Detroit Pistons: Sekou Doumbouya remains the biggest question mark

With the conclusion of the 2020-2021 regular season, the Detroit Pistons have a lot to look forward to. Their young rookies, Saddiq Bey, Killian Hayes, and Isaiah Stewart, all showed promise to be impactful players throughout their careers. The Pistons finished with the second-worst record in the league and are now looking to land a top-three pick in this year’s draft lottery. The team has also extended head coach Dwane Casey through the 2023-2024 season.

The Detroit Pistons do have one glaring question mark on their roster heading into next season, Sekou Doumbouya. The longest-tenured Piston is the last player remaining from the pre-Troy Weaver era. Detroit selected Doumbouya 15th overall in the 2019 NBA draft, and while the team knew he was a raw prospect that needed to develop, Doumbouya has struggled to do so in his first two seasons in the league.

Statistically, Doumbouya played worse in his sophomore season compared to his rookie season. The 20-year-old’s minutes per game dropped from 19.8 to 15.5 per game. That drop in minutes has also seen his points per game drop from 6.4 to 5.1 and his rebounds per game falling from 3.1 to 2.6.

A drop in scoring output and rebounding is expected with a drop in minutes, but it is clear that Doumbouya has struggled so far in his young NBA career.

Detroit Pistons: Sekou Doumbouya needs consistency

Shooting efficiency has been one of Doumbouya’s biggest struggles so far in his career. The power forward is shooting 38.4 percent from the floor and 25.4 percent from beyond the arc. These numbers are concerning because his shooting percentages are trending down from year one to year two, and Doumbouya will have to work on his efficiency if he wants to stick around in this league.

Compared to other players who entered the NBA as raw prospects, Doumbouya has fallen short on his development as he enters his third season next year. For example, Raptors power forward Pascal Siakam saw his shooting percentages go up across the board in each of his first three seasons. Siakam also saw his points and rebounds per game increase in those seasons as well.

The area Doumbouya needs to improve the most heading into next season is his consistency. Doumbouya has shown flashes of his potential throughout his career such as a 20 point and eight rebound performance in a three point loss to the Charlotte Hornets late this season. Doumbouya shot 60 percent from the field while knocking down two of his five three-point attempts that game. While these flashes show great promise for Doumbouya’s career, these moments have been few and far between for most of his career.

Doumbouya was able to end his second season on a positive note. In his final eight games of the season, the 6-8 forward averaged 11.5 points and 4.9 rebounds on 28.1 minutes per contest. Doumbouya also shot 46.3 percent from the field in those final eight games as well. Continuing this positive trend into the next season is extremely important for Doumbouya’s development.

In his first two years, Doumbouya has shown flashes of potential, now that he’s entering his third year in the league, those flashes must become consistent game-to-game play for him. If Doumbouya can make that jump in development next season, he could be in the running for the league’s most improved player award. If he cannot make that jump, he could find himself on the trade block next season.