Sekou Doumbouya and Josh Jackson keep this up, they’re going to need a modern-day Kevin McHale to conjure an appropriate nickname.
It was McHale who 33 years ago came up with “X Factor” to describe a pair of coltish Pistons rookies, Dennis Rodman and John Salley. They were critical, the wily Celtics veteran determined, in how the upstart Pistons – not yet dubbed the Bad Boys – would fare against the reigning Eastern Conference heavyweights in the street brawl that the 1987 conference finals became.
Rodman and Salley embraced the nickname, eventually devising an arms-crossed greeting – simulating an X – for each other upon entering games. They were otherwise known by their given names, Worm and Spider.
For this version of the Pistons to emerge from today’s Eastern Conference landscape, an even younger pair of Pistons off-the-bench forwards are poised for a similar role. Their ability to run the floor, stir things up and change the texture of the game has been perhaps the most revelatory takeaway through three preseason games.
“Defensively, they have to come in and defend their position and almost be a stopper – and maybe come back with the first group and be a stopper,” Dwane Casey said after Doumbouya and Jackson combined for 27 ultra-efficient points off the bench in Thursday’s convincing 97-86 win at Washington. “That’s the first role. They’ve got to come in and change the game. That’s what they did tonight.”
It was positively X Factorish.
“With their length on the defensive end and their ability to score the ball in whichever way we need them to score, it’s huge for us,” said Jerami Grant, who had his best outing with 15 points, hitting 3 of 5 triples. “Josh has been shooting the ball really well and Sekou’s been playing really well, too. But I think it definitely starts on the defensive end and they’ve been doing that, as well.”
Doumbouya, who turns 20 on the night of the regular-season opener at Minnesota on Wednesday, has scored 33 points in 35 minutes over his last two games while making 12 of 17 shots and half of his six 3-point attempts. He’s getting easy baskets by running the floor in transition and cutting to the rim in the half-court offense, he’s creating points for himself on drives and he’s knocking down perimeter shots. He’s also had two blocks and two steals while switching up or down with equal dependability.
“He’s doing a heck of a job,” said Casey, who administered some tough love on Doumbouya during the peaks and valleys of his rookie season. “Sekou’s competing at a high level right now and it’s good to see.”
Jackson pressed in a foul-prone opener, but was much better in Sunday’s win over New York and terrific in the Washington game. Over the past two games, he’s scored 26 points in 43 minutes while hitting 10 of 17 shots and 6 of 9 from the 3-point arc. He’s also contributed five assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Still just 23, Jackson is on his third NBA team since being the No. 4 pick in 2017. His career revival began with a dominant run in the G League last season and continued with a late-season showing at Memphis, prompting new Pistons general manager Troy Weaver to add him on a low-risk, two-year deal.
“Sometimes guys get labeled in certain areas,” Casey said of Jackson, who arrived to the NBA regarded as raw offensively but with a chance to be elite defensively. “Josh is unfortunately one of those kids that can get labeled as an athlete, a cutter. Josh is a good shooter. He’s been one of our better defenders. That’s where he gets his juices going. But knockdown shots, he has ’em. He’s getting a feel for the offense.”
Weaver’s biggest off-season splash was getting Jerami Grant, 26, fresh off his playoff run with the Denver Nuggets. At 6-foot-8 with a 7-foot-3 wingspan, Grant’s addition was an important step in Weaver’s desire to make the Pistons a longer, more versatile team on the wings. The team Casey inherited two years ago was bereft of such players. Their wings were Stanley Johnson, Reggie Bullock, Luke Kennard, Glenn Robinson and Bruce Brown, all of them 6-foot-6 or under except the slender Bullock (6-foot-7).
Ed Stefanski took the first step toward addressing that critical need by drafting Doumbouya, 6-foot-9, with the 15th pick in 2019. Now Weaver has added Grant, the 6-foot-8 Jackson, 6-foot-8 rookie Saddiq Bey and 6-foot-9 Dzanan Musa, who made his Pistons debut in Thursday’s win. Doumbouya and Jackson, for as much as you can draw from three preseason games, appear on the verge of staking their claims to rotation spots in a crowded field.
“They’re two high-energy players,” Delon Wright said of Doumbouya and Jackson. “That’s the beauty of still trying to make their marks. They’re still hungry, still ready to go out there and play their best. They can be sparks off the bench.”
Demographically, Doumbouya and Jackson belong to Generation Z. Organizationally, they more resemble Factor X.