Detroit Pistons: Hamidou Diallo may have found his niche

Early in the season, Hamidou Diallo was an afterthought for the Detroit Pistons. Buried in the rotation because of his poor outside shooting, Diallo was getting inconsistent minutes, and sometimes none at all.

His future with the Pistons seemed uncertain at best, especially considering he is on an expiring contract, with the 24-year-old set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

But lately, Hamidou Diallo has been getting more run and making the most of it, playing an unlikely role off the bench.

With Marvin Bagley III, Isiah Stewart and Jalen Duren all out with injuries, the Detroit Pistons have used Hamidou Diallo as a power forward and emergency center, and it has actually been effective at times, including last night, when Diallo went off for 19 points, seven rebounds and two steals on 9-of-11 shooting.

For the third game in a row, Diallo has defended centers in Joel Embiid, Rudy Gobert and Jonas Valanciunas, and though the results on the defensive end were to be expected, coach Dwane Casey may have found something offensively that he can use as a weapon in short spurts when his bigs finally return.

Detroit Pistons: Hamidou Diallo, backup center

The Detroit Pistons were at a big disadvantage against the New Orleans Pelicans last night even though both teams were shorthanded with their stars on the bench.

The Pelicans still had center Jonas Valanciunas, who was absolutely abusing starter Nerlens Noel, who picked up four quick fouls in just 19 minutes on the floor. Noel offers next to nothing offensively, so Dwane Casey said screw it and just went small for most of the second half, using Hamidou Diallo as the five.

Diallo wasn’t able to stop Valanciunas either and the Pels’ center ended with 33 points and 16 rebounds, but Hamidou was able to provide offense by simply beating everyone down the floor for layups and dunks, including one of the highlights of the season:

Again and again, Diallo was able to beat his man up the court and go all the way to the rim. He scored 19 points without taking a single jump shot.

Not shooting 3-point shots has been a big part of his turnaround this season, as he has only taken five attempts from long range over the last 13 games, eight of which he scored in double figures.

Over his last eight games, Diallo has averaged 13 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals while shooting over 70 percent from the field. In his last four games (in which he has averaged 26.5 minutes as a power forward and center off the bench), Diallo has averaged 15.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals and shot an incredible 75.7 percent from the field while not taking a single 3-point shot.

Playing Diallo at center is not something the Detroit Pistons can do for long stretches, and it’s arguable that Casey milked it a little too long last night, but Hami’s ability to hold his own against bigger offensive players and rebound his position well makes him a weapon as a small-ball center in certain matchups and in small doses.

Hamidou has been one for the real bright spots over the last few weeks, and though it was forced upon him through circumstance, coach Casey may have found a niche for Diallo as a rim-running power forward and backup center who uses his speed and athleticism to rack up easy points at the rim in transition.