Who is the Detroit Pistons’ unsung hero?

The Detroit Pistons’ best and most important players are undoubtedly Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson, but after that, who is the Pistons’ most valuable player?

We know that Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson are the Pistons most important players (in that order), but who ranks where after that?

Who is the Pistons’ unsung hero that doesn’t get the credit he deserves?

It’s evident that there is a pretty big drop off after the big two (Jackson and Drummond), and that there is an even bigger drop off after the next best players in Marcus Morris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Morris and Caldwell-Pope lead the Pistons in minutes because there isn’t much depth behind either player at their positions, and both players have unique qualities that can’t be replicated by the Pistons’ bench.

For Morris, it’s his ability to create offense in by himself. For Caldwell-Pope, it’s his ability to guard any wing player at a high level and outwork his opponents on offense.

Without doing any research I would have guessed that Morris would separate himself from Caldwell-Pope offensively and that the two would flip-flop on the defensive end–but I quickly found that wasn’t the case.

As you can see from the above graphic, Morris and Caldwell-Pope are neck and neck in points per game, with Morris averaging only .2 points more than Caldwell-Pope.

Both players also have nearly the same offensive consistency with Caldwell-Pope scoring in double-digits 21 games, scoring 15 points or more in 14 of those contests, and Morris scoring in double-digits 22 games, scoring 15 points or more in 13 of those contests.

Finally, both players have nearly identical shooting percentages with Caldwell-Pope being the stronger three-point shooter.

Where these player’s impact begin to separate however, is on the defensive end as Caldwell-Pope has clearly had the bigger impact.

Caldwell-Pope has been tasked with guarding each team’s best play-making guards on a nightly basis and has succeeded more often than not holding players like Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard, Steph Curry, Dwyane Wade, and John Wall under their season averages.

While Caldwell-pope’s offensive numbers aren’t significantly improved from a season ago, he’s scoring more consistently and it’s because his production doesn’t live and die by his jump shot like it used to. Caldwell-Pope’s improved defense, energy, and confidence has lead to easy transition buckets, and his ability to get to the rim and free throw line is much improved.

He’s also been more of consistent creating his own shot and scoring–something we hardly saw from him last season.

Marcus Morris has been awesome for the Pistons this season, but through 27 games it’s been Caldwell-Pope who has been Detroit’s unsung hero.