MIAMI -- You're running out of Detroit Pistons-related questions for "Ask David." Or, at least, running out of tolerance for the Pistons.

In either case, I totally understand.

Last week's segment was canceled, for the first time, because of lack of participation. This week's barely made the cut.

The Pistons are terrible. March Madness is under way. The Tigers are about to start. The Red Wings ... meh, whatever. All there is to look forward to with this team is the draft and the trade and free-agency seasons.

They're awfully hard to watch, these Pistons. Falling victim to the Miami Heat tonight is inevitable. The more appropriate question this weekend is whether they even can win Saturday at Charlotte.

For inclusion in next Friday's Q-and-A segment (and to help in the assurance that there is one), email your questions to dmayo@mlive.com and remember to put "Ask David" in the subject line.

Here we go:

Q: Hi David, thanks for all your work on the Pistons. I never miss a story. I see Andre Drummond's work rate in his recovery from his back injury has picked up. Can you elaborate on what that means? Is there a chance the Pistons just let him sit out the rest of the season, since they're not going anywhere anyway? -- Fred

A: Drummond has participated in some light up-and-down drills with the team, Fred. Practices are conducted exclusively outside the media's prying eyes, so all we know about what Drummond is doing is what those on the inside tell us. He has been running for some time but it's obvious that his workouts have intensified dramatically, beginning on the west-coast trip last week, when practices or shootarounds would end with Drummond wearing a drenched-in-sweat t-shirt.

The intent is not to shut down Drummond. The Pistons would love to get him back, even if only for a half-dozen games, to get him acclimated to playing again and send him into the summer offseason training period on a high note. The Pistons also were getting to the point, just before Drummond was hurt, where they commonly would play him several minutes per game at center, alongside Greg Monroe at power forward. That's the pairing of the future, and while it might have been exploited more even before Drummond was hurt in early February, the injury short-circuited any chance of it happening extensively.

The Pistons will err on the side of caution, that much is certain. If they don't know Drummond is 100-percent ready to play, he won't play, and that decision will be made by medical staff and no one else. If the medical staffers are comfortable that Drummond is fully recovered and his conditioning level has reached an appropriate level, you'll see him on the floor. My guess, based strictly on his obviously accelerating work rate and the fact there are still more than three weeks left in the season, is that we'll see him back, perhaps as soon as next week. Then again, I got my doctorate from a place advertised in the back of a Popular Mechanics magazine, so don't read too much into it.

Q: The Pistons have been all over the place with Brandon Knight, and even more unpredictable without him. They're 0-6 and not competitive in games he sat out with injuries, so this downfall isn't entirely because of the Drummond injury or the Tayshaun Prince trade. But I'm not sure what the plan for Knight is, nor do I know if Pistons fans as a whole understand it. Is he a point guard? Is he a shooting guard? Does he move back to point guard if Jose Calderon doesn't re-sign with the team? -- Mike

A: Good question, Mike. The best answer I have is that the Pistons view Knight as a shooting guard if Calderon re-signs and a potential starting point guard (again) if Calderon goes elsewhere. Is that a perfect solution? Obviously not. But when we say there are several ways the Pistons could go in free agency, this is one of the biggest variables. Say Calderon signs with another team. The Pistons then could get a top-flight shooting guard in free agency -- O.J. Mayo is the name that crops up most often -- then shift Knight back to the point, re-sign Will Bynum as his backup (or go outside the organization, though Bynum has played well enough to be considered for a new contract), and keep Rodney Stuckey as the backup shooting guard. If Calderon stays, the Pistons keep their shooting guards intact, make the attendant decision on backup point, and spend some of their available loot on a top-flight forward (Josh Smith is going to get a maximum contract somewhere, and putting him on a front line with Drummond and Monroe would make for a daunting group, though it doesn't address the need for more 3-point shooting and could strap the Pistons financially and limit their ability to upgrade the backcourt once Monroe's contract is revisited in summer of 2014).

The Pistons' approach to Knight could be viewed as indecision on the team's part, or the player's inability to fit perfectly into either role. Neither criticism would be unfair. At the same time, Knight's value as a two-position guard gives the Pistons some flexibility going into the summer that they wouldn't have otherwise. For now, the Pistons view him as a multi-talented player who can run an offense or be a perimeter shooting threat, whichever they need. That has its own value for a team with so many holes to plug.

Q: Looks like the wheels have finally come off. Who's the next coach? -- Lenon

Q: Hey David, no softball question today for you. ... My question is should Joe Dumars and/or Lawrence Frank be fired after this season? I know in the past you have said both would be and should be back, but this team has turned out to be flat-out awful. ... Thanks and God bless. -- Jeff

A: We'll make this quick. Lumped questions together. Reason obvious. Latter one abbreviated. Answer will be too. Same question two weeks ago. See answer here. Correct, Lenon, wheels are off. Correct, Jeff, team is flat-out awful. Everyone's performance subject to postseason evaluation. By the way, last time I entertain this question in this feature. Totally understand why it's a popular question. Also totally understand I've answered it fully and completely before. Want different answer? Ask different person.

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