Stanley Johnson,Jamal Murray

Detroit Pistons forward Stanley Johnson, left, looks to pass as Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray defends in the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016, in Denver.

(David Zalubowski | AP)

ATLANTA -- We now have more clarity on the Stanley Johnson situation.

The second-year forward has not played in three games over the last two weeks and watched as his spot in the Detroit Pistons' rotation fall to other players.

He worked on his shooting over the summer, so what's been the issue?

"Stan has to become a much better worker and learner," Pistons president-coach Stan Van Gundy said Friday before Detroit's game against the Atlanta Hawks (8 p.m., FSD).

"He just does. He's a great competitor -- if you put him on the floor, he's going to work really, really hard. But he's got to get better at all the stuff that leads up to going onto the court."

Van Gundy specifically pointed to practice and off-days, where Johnson, now 20, sometimes puts in less than 100 percent effort compared to his fellow bench counterparts.

"He's got to be a better practice guy," Van Gundy said. "He's got to be a better workout guy. He's got to be better with all that stuff. Really working to get better. Once he's out there competing, you don't have a problem with that. He'll play as hard as anybody, but he's got to understand that's not the whole thing. It's preparing to play."

Johnson was suspended one game last week for violating team rules. While the reason was never publicly disclosed, Johnson showed up to the team's practice facility for morning shootaround only to be sent home.

On Friday, Johnson -- after earning his second 'DNP (Did Not Play) - Coach's Decision' on the box score Wednesday at Boston -- claimed ignorance.

"I mean, honestly I don't even know how bad of a situation I'm actually in," Johnson said. "I'm not playing. That's the only thing that's bad. But at the end of the day, everyday I'm getting better -- I'm playing basketball, I work out everyday.

"Not being able to play right now is obviously, I'm not happy with that. I will never be happy with that. But at the same time, you've got to find the silver lining in things and take (something) out of it. I need to get better at certain things to make coach happy."

Van Gundy refused to characterize the situation as an act of tough love, but rather a decision to play the guys that gives the Pistons their best chance to win. He's on record in the last few weeks saying as much, opting instead to give minutes at shooting guard to Darrun Hilliard.

"He's going to have to (work harder)," Van Gundy said. "I'm not trying to send him this message, I'm just deciding to play other people ahead of him. But that's what he's going to have to do. That's what this league requires. That's what this situation requires.

"There's days where he works at it really, really hard, and there's other days where he doesn't. He's been up and down as a worker. He's not as locked in to the work as some of our other guys on a daily basis, and that's got to change."

Johnson's numbers are down across the board this season -- he's averaging 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 17 games this season, averaging about 15 minutes per contest.

The Pistons elected to pick up an option on Johnson's contract for 2017-18, keeping him under team control for at least another season. Van Gundy reiterated the franchise hasn't given up on him -- praising his ability to guard multiple positions and potential to become a "really, really good player."

"Finding a guy with his competitiveness to play against the best people is really, really hard to find," Van Gundy said.

"We need him to become a really good player. We've got to do everything we can get to get him there, because he is a huge part of any type of long-term success that we're going to have. But that's also going to require a lot of work from him."