Detroit Pistons 2019-2020 player grade: Sekou Doumbouya

What Sekou did well

This road trip served as the official starting point for his career, and kicked off what would become an electric two weeks of basketball from Sekou.

His first three defensive match ups were against Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, and Draymond Green. In his first game, he scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

A double-double in your first career NBA start is a great sign. His tenacity along the boards and quickness in transition were as good as advertised.

In his second game he did it again. 16 points and 10 rebounds on 60 percent shooting. His mechanics on offense looked near impeccable as he knocked down 4 of his 7 attempted three-pointers.

Against LeBron his efforts weren’t quite as strong, but 11 points and 4 rebounds wasn’t so bad. His ability to stay in front of such elite ball handlers went beyond the idea of impressive, it was bizarre.

Sekou was jumping passing lanes, getting steals, blocking shots, closing out on time, all of it. It was tremendous.

Through his first eight games as a starter, he showed us that if given the chance, he can put the ball on the floor and attack the basket. He showed us that he’s capable of thunderous dunks, and hitting from the perimeter at a decent rate.

His defense was impressive from again, the youngest player in the entire league, and although fans wished he was given more scoring opportunities, he was making progress pretty quickly.

Through his first eight games, he was averaging 14.0 points and 5.3 rebounds on 54.4 percent shooting, and 41.1 percent from three-point range.