Sekou Doumbouya makes his first NBA start for the Detroit Pistons

Detroit Pistons rookie Sekou Doumbouya saw his first NBA start in Los Angeles on Thursday night, and recorded a double-double.

The world momentarily stopped spinning for Detroit Pistons fans when news broke before the game that the 19 year old rookie Sekou Doumbouya would receive his first NBA start in Los Angeles.

This naturally came as a shock because head coach Dwane Casey had only utilized him in late game situations when the outcome has already been determined. Meaning Doumbouya is generally seeing meaningless minutes once every week or so, and even then it’s hardly ever enough to establish any sort of a rhythm. He’s spent a majority of this season with the Pistons G-League affiliate; the Grand Rapids Drive.

So what changed tonight? How did he go from seeing virtually zero minutes to the 27 that he played tonight?

Injuries are a funny thing. They’ve turned this Detroit team – who was once a promising unit destined for the playoffs –  into a consensus lottery team. One can assume that with the absence of both Markieff Morris and Blake Griffin tonight, the Pistons decided that they didn’t have much to lose by throwing Doumbouya out into the lineup. The gamble didn’t necessarily hurt them.

The entire situation was and still is rather perplexing. It seems as if fans are still trying to wrap their heads around what was one of the faster developing stories in recent memory for Detroit. We went from assuming he’d carry on with his usual duties like the aforementioned “garbage time minutes” – to “wait, is he actually going to be starting?” – and finally, to “oh goodness, they’re actually going to start him.”

As the game began one thing became clear quickly – Doumbouya was the best defender on the floor for Detroit. His ability to contest shots on close outs, rotate on and off ball handlers, and keep his man in front of him felt as if they exceeded expectations. It’s worth noting that a majority of these plays came while defending Kawhi Leonard.

Look, a transition dunk!

All of his made field goals came at the rim, despite attempting 4 three-point shots. His mechanics still look smooth, but one can assume there were a fair amount of nerves involved tonight. He ended the night with 10 points and 11 rebounds. A double-double in your first career start is a tremendous way to kick off your career.

It was fun to have something to look forward to. His ability to defend has quickly become something that fans can anticipate in his next outing – whenever that may be. It was fun to be able to watch this Pistons game and take a brief glimpse into what the future may hold.

The expectations and comparisons that he draws are a lot to live up to, but if tonight was indicative of his future success, Detroit has a lot to look forward to.