“His first game back he had 19 points, 9 of 14 from the field, and 15 rebounds,” said Tony Ronzone, who oversees the Pistons’ international scouting efforts in his role as the team’s director of basketball operations. “He was injured for seven weeks and I thought it was great – he worked on his body. He’s probably up to 235 (pounds) now. He’s going to play on our summer team and people will see a different person.”

The Pistons acquired the rights to Samb on draft night 2006 when they traded Maurice Evans to the Los Angeles Lakers, who picked him 51st. He’s listed at 7-foot-1, though Ronzone said he’s now 7-2 with a wingspan of 7-8. Samb is contractually obligated to his Spanish LEB2 league team, WTC Cornella, for another season. That’s fine with the Pistons, who wouldn’t have room for him next season even if the 22-year-old Samb were ready for the NBA.

He probably isn’t, but he might not be as far away as it seemed a year ago. Samb opened some eyes last summer in Las Vegas with the Pistons, prompting a few general managers to call Joe Dumars with trade overtures. Samb, a Senegal native, is a strong shot-blocker who runs the floor ridiculously well for a big guy and possesses an outside stroke that Dumars has compared to Jack Sikma and Rasheed Wallace.

“He’s made up a lot of ground over the course of the season,” said Ronzone, who hopes to bring Samb to the United States for the Pistons’ playoffs if Cornella’s season ends in time. “He can run the floor and he can rebound. You can’t teach what he has. It’s great for us. He’s our project. He’s one of those bigs who can actually shoot it.”

Ronzone said Samb is capable of playing in Spain’s top division, but doesn’t because Cornella’s counterpart in the first division is loaded with older players in a system that leans toward seniority.

“He could have played on the first team but it would have been spot minutes,” Ronzone said. “The first team guys are 28 and 30 and it’s an age thing there. But there level two league is comparable to high Division I (American college basketball). Those guys can play.”

Ronzone will return to Europe next week for the Euroleague Final Four, to be held in Greece, where he’ll see the Pistons’ other European prospect. Alex Acker, drafted by the Pistons with the final pick of the 2005 draft and a Pistons rookie last year, has flourished while playing for Olympiakos in Athens. Though his team was recently eliminated by Tau Ceramica in the Euroleague’s best-of-three quarterfinals, Acker emerged as one of Europe’s top players.

“He played great,” Ronzone said of the 6-foot-5 Acker, who projects as an NBA shooting guard. “That’s a high-profile team playing in a tough league with a lot of pressure on him to perform. If he doesn’t play well, they’re booing him. He’s playing 35 minutes a night, he’s the team leader and he’s got to make shots and produce every night.

“I’ve had other (NBA) teams call me and say how improved he is and how well he’s playing. I’d say he’s one of the top two Americans in Europe right now. Going there and being in another country, you grow as a man. He’s going to come back a lot more confident and polished. (Toronto’s) Anthony Parker played in that league – look what he’s done in the NBA.”