3 reasons to keep watching the 2020 Detroit Pistons

1. Sekou Doumboya

We’ve got to start here. The most exciting Piston prospect since a 19-year-old Andre Drummond, Doumbouya has been already coronated as The Prince Who Was Promised by Markieff Morris. It’s a shame that the Pistons don’t play at The Palace anymore, with all due respect to the original Palace Prince, Tayshaun Prince.

Sidenote: Basketball Reference’s penchant for assigning strange nicknames to NBA players strikes again with Doumbouya, dubbing him Captain Cook. Which is admittedly much, much cooler than some of the nicknames I’ve seen thrown around on Twitter.

Anyways, Sekou’s inherent ability to simply get buckets was on full display against the Boston Celtics as he managed to score in a myriad of ways.

Here he pops off a screen for Rose and punishes the defense for doubling Rose.

Here, he goes left, bodies the smaller Kemba Walker, spins to his right, fakes, then finishes with his left softly off the glass. He’s right-handed and 19 years old. What is even going on here.

He also has a great awareness of where to be on the court. He could’ve sat in the corner waiting for the kick-out 3 but instead, he finds a soft spot in the defense and gets the guaranteed bucket.

Here’s his freaking post game. Sure, it’s against Walker but still, remember when LeBron James couldn’t abuse J.J. Barea in the post in that first Miami Heat season? Sekou would never.

Here’s his court awareness on display again, he finds a soft spot in the defense and receives the pass for the easy basket. His aggression and seemingly inherent ability to know where to be on the court seem natural.

It was apparent from his very first start that Sekou was different even if his box score didn’t exactly reflect it. He was directing traffic, calling for screens, shooting with confidence, and projecting a swagger that the Pistons haven’t seen in quite some time.

His unabashed disdain for opponents, exemplified here by his absolute burial of Tristan Thompson, and his ability to score from anywhere on the court reminds me of another phenom who was once making waves as the youngest player in the NBA.

But I wouldn’t ever compare him to Kobe Bryant, no sir, that’d be blasphemous and unfair.

Sekou is really the only reason you need to keep watching the Pistons this season. His offensive game is further along than draft scouts alluded to, it’s so good it may prevent the Pistons from really bottoming out.

Plus, you can already see the beginnings of a very good defensive player. He’s very active, with length and athleticism. He’s already had a game with three steals after only playing seven games with real substantial minutes, I’m sure those types of games will become more and more frequent.

Sekou is going to be a sure thing, Morris wouldn’t lie. The Prince Who Was Promised is the youngest player in the NBA, has an eff-you attitude, prototypical size, and a natural feel for the game but there’s more than just Sekou to watch. There’s a whole core of a team in development in Detroit.