Greg Monroe
Greg Monroe anchored the power forward position for the Detroit Pistons during one of the franchise’s toughest periods.
Drafted with the 7th pick in 2010, Monroe spent the first five seasons of his career battling with a crew of misfits.
Through these years Monroe was almost the sole shining light in Detroit, averaging 14.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals.
One underrated aspect of Monroe’s game was his talent for distributing the ball, which was wasted most of the time.
He had great awareness and was adept at passing out of the post to a player in space. However due to the talent the team had at the time, many of these passes went unrewarded.
His average of 2.3 assists per game is great for a big man, but is likely a lot lower than it should be.
Similarly, Monroe’s active hands on the defensive end were one of the best aspects of his game.
He was great at judging when to poke a ball lose, and it certainly helped mask that he wasn’t a great defender.
For the five years he spent in Detroit he was mostly the go-to guy. Once Andre Drummond started developing rapidly, however, he began to find himself being squeezed out of the team. It just wasn’t feasible playing Monroe alongside Drummond (especially not with Josh Smith at small forward).
In the 2015 offseason, it was no surprise when Monroe left for the Milwaukee Bucks via free agency.
Despite playing in one of the more forgettable periods in Pistons history, Monroe cemented himself as a top power forward.