"With the Pistons hoping to transition from a lottery team back to playoff contender, the question arises as to which holdover from the 2004 championship team is more important -- Tayshaun Prince or Richard Hamilton?

Since the team has too many players at small forward and shooting guard, Prince or Hamilton is the most likely to go so the team can move forward.

At guard, the Pistons have Ben Gordon, Hamilton, Will Bynum and Rodney Stuckey, plus a possible experiment with Austin Daye at shooting guard. At small forward, the Pistons have Prince, Jonas Jerebko (who could develop into a power forward), Daye and DaJuan Summers.

Prince, in the final year of his deal that is set to pay him $11 million, might be the wiser option to keep.

"Tayshaun is more versatile and he's younger," said Bill Duffy, Prince's agent. "He's the perfect complementary player, and I don't think there's any question that Rip is the kind of player who is in need of the ball. He's a great scorer, but obviously not as versatile as Tayshaun. Tayshaun can blend better with the new players that they have and the younger crew.""