Detroit Pistons: 3 steps for Hamidou Diallo to win 6th man of the year

Detroit Pistons: Hamidou Diallo needs to score more

Given that Hamidou Diallo has never averaged even 25 minutes a game, it makes a degree of sense that he’s never been an elite scorer. To take home Sixth Man honors, he needs to improve in this area perhaps more than anywhere else.

Previous winners usually score 18 points a night, Diallo just scored 11 per game in Detroit. But Detroit had unreliable and inconsistent lineups. Next year, the Detroit Pistons are going to approach each game with a heightened degree of seriousness.

This ought to result in Diallo playing more minutes with the same players over and over. With a pretty clear-cut starting five of Grant, Bey, Cunningham, Stewart and Hayes; Diallo won’t be playing with elite talent, so is positioned to be one of the top scoring options off the bench, which should be far more consistent than last season.

The result of Diallo playing with real and consistent talent means more scoring, efficient shooting percentages, and better assist numbers. He’s already a good rebounder for his size and position, so if he can score 17 or more a night and play well-rounded basketball with a solid unit, he should finish in the top three when it comes down to final voting.

On top of offensive prowess, Diallo is a very good shot blocker. His block percentages were some of the highest on the roster with 2.2% of all opponent shots being blocked by him. While he is a good perimeter defender, he doesn’t put up great stats. Diallo makes up for this by being one of the better shot blockers at his position, and the stats back it up.