From the Pistons official press release:
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - The Detroit Pistons announced today that the team has assigned rookie forward Vernon Macklin to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League.
Macklin has appeared in 19 games this season with the Pistons averaging 1.4 points and 0.9 rebounds in 4.2 minutes per game. He scored a season-high five points vs. Dallas (1/10) and collected a season-high four rebounds at Oklahoma City (1/23).
Drafted 52nd overall in the 2011 NBA Draft from the University of Florida, he started 69 of 71 career games during his two seasons with the Gators. He played his first two years at Georgetown University prior to transferring to Florida in 2008.
This is good thing, I suppose -- Macklin wasn't playing here, and nothing beats on-court experience. But while getting some burn might help Macklin polish his game, he's probably already near his ceiling as a player. Unlike most rookies, he's already 25 years old -- to put that in context, he's a few months older than Rodney Stuckey, a fifth-year veteran.
But still, there's no downside to this. I've long felt the Pistons woefully underuse their D-League affiliate (but then again, so do most NBA teams), so I'm glad to see he'll get some PT.