Andre Drummond ruled out Wednesday, questionable Friday

Andre Drummond might be downplaying the head injury he suffered Saturday but his team certainly isn't. The Detroit Pistons have already ruled out their franchise player out for Wednesday and are listing him as questionable for Friday's contest.

Whether this is an absolutely necessary move, an overly cautious decision by the team or a devious tanking strategy doesn't really matter as you don't mess around with the health and future of Drummond during a season that has already been lost.

Wednesday's game sees the Pistons visit the Denver Nuggets and Friday's contest pits Detroit against the Phoenix Suns. If he returns Saturday he could help the Pistons face the Los Angeles Clippers on the second night of a back-to-back.

While the starting lineup hasn't been announced, once Drummond left the game against the Pacers in the first quarter, they started the second half with a lineup of Greg Monroe at center, Josh Smith at power forward, Kyle Singler at small forward, Rodney Stuckey at shooting guard and Brandon Jennings at shooting point guard.

So anybody concerned that this injury could make the Pistons lineup more sensible and feature more outside shooting -- don't get your hopes up.