Pistons' Darrun Hilliard: Feeling good after back injury

Hilliard suggested earlier this week that he's fully recovered from the lower-back injury that limited him for much of July and August, Pistons.com's Keith Langlois reports. "I think it helped my body. It helped my mind, for sure," Hilliard said, in reference to the time off he had to recover from the injury.

Analysis:

Hilliard had been dealing with chronic pain in his lumbar region heading into the summer and was ultimately diagnosed with a small fracture in his lower back. The injury prevented him from picking up some meaningful devleopment time in summer league, but with a strong training camp, Hilliard can put himself in contention for a larger role off the bench in 2016-17 after he saw only sparse minutes as a rookie. Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy has stated a desire to reduce the minutes loads for starting wings Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Marcus Morris this season, potentially paving the way for Hilliard, Stanley Johnson and Reggie Bullock to see more time.