Darrun Hilliard season in review and grade

Darrun Hilliard had a season to forget for the Detroit Pistons. Unfortunately, Hilliard might not have the luxury of a mulligan season.

Darrun Hilliard was expected to have the opportunity to break out this season, and he never really got on track. He suffered a stress fracture in his lower back in offseason workouts and didn’t get the chance to be the feature on offense for the Detroit Pistons in the Orlando Summer League.

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Things didn’t get much better for him from there. He was ready for training camp, but he didn’t stand out in preseason and didn’t do much to impress early in the regular season. Hilliard didn’t play more than two minutes in any game until the seventh game of the season against the Los Angeles Clippers in mostly mop-up duty.

He got a stretch to prove himself in late November and December when Stanley Johnson was so deep in Stan Van Gundy’s doghouse that he was removed from the rotation. That became Hilliard’s spot to lose, but he wasn’t able to take advantage of the opportunity. Over a 15-game stretch (only one of which was a DNP-CD), Hilliard played 14 minutes per game and shot 41.9 percent from the floor and 34.8 percent from three-point range. He averaged 4.6 points per game.

After December 19th, Hilliard only played more than nine minutes once until Stan Van Gundy expanded rotations late in the season, and he played in only 39 games on the season.

As for what to expect next season, he may find himself fighting for a roster spot. The Detroit Pistons have a team option on Hilliard’s contract worth just over $1 million. As the Pistons will be looking for ways to free up salary to pay Kentavious Caldwell-Pope without going over the luxury tax, Hilliard may be an easy cut. On the other hand, his low salary may make him valuable if Van Gundy thinks he has any worth on the floor.

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Darrun Hilliard’s season wasn’t a total waste, and he showed some spark in the final three games of the season in which he played 17 minutes per game and shot 55 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from three-point range. Hopefully for Hilliard, that’s enough to get one more shot with the Pistons next season.

Grade: D+