Pistons Notes: Doumbouya, Drummond, Wood

In the wake of Blake Griffin‘s season-ending injury, rookie forward Sekou Doumbouya was inserted into the Pistons‘ starting lineup and made a strong early impression, scoring double-digit points in seven of eight games and handling some challenging defensive assignments. However, the NBA’s youngest player has experienced some growing pains in recent weeks. Since scoring 24 points in Boston on January 15, Doumbouya has averaged just 3.9 PPG on .243/.105/.778 shooting in his last seven games (22.3 MPG).

The slump wasn’t unexpected for a player as inexperienced as Doumbouya — head coach Dwane Casey recognized that the rookie would have his ups and downs, as Keith Langlois of Pistons.com details. After playing just eight minutes in Wednesday’s loss to Brooklyn, Doumbouya may have a G League assignment in his future to help restore his confidence.

“There’s a chance he may go back to the G League just to get some more playing time, to get his thirst back,” Casey said. “Get the fundamentals back. More practice time because we’re not practicing that much. We’ll look into that as we go along.”

Here’s more on the Pistons:

• This may be Andre Drummond‘s last season – or even his last week – with the Pistons, as the free-agent-to-be is also a candidate to be traded before next Thursday’s deadline. Even if he does end up leaving Detroit, Drummond will still have a special place in the hearts of the team’s fans, according to Eric Woodyard of ESPN, who explores the connection the veteran center has built with the city since being drafted in 2012.
• Christian Wood has been far more productive in home games than road games so far this season, so his 20-point, eight-rebound performance in Brooklyn on Wednesday represented another promising step forward in what has been a breakout year — and potentially another step toward securing Wood’s future with the Pistons, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
• Seth Partnow, Sam Vecenie, and Danny Leroux of The Athletic take an in-depth look at the options facing the Pistons at the trade deadline, exploring the odds of the team finding a taker for Drummond and suggesting possible Lakers and Sixers trade packages for Derrick Rose.