Lawrence Frank sees Brandon Knight and Andre Drummond as key to the future of the Detroit Pistons.

"Brandon is coming along bit by bit," Frank said before Friday's 109-99 victory over the Miami Heat at the Palace. "He had a really good stretch prior to Washington. The bench has really stepped up and because of the way it is playing, it's limited some of our starters' minutes. But he's definitely made progress, and this is a very, very hard game to play from this point guard position. Brandon's going to continue to get better."

Frank couldn't hide his optimism for the surging Drummond.

"Andre has really been terrific for us," Frank said before Drummond had 10 points and 10 rebounds Friday night. "He's -- I said it the other day -- he's exceeded (our expectations) so far. He's obviously got a huge, huge ceiling to grow. The thing that impresses me the most about him is that he's the most coachable guy we have on this team. He's been diligent with his routine and work ethic, and he has some athletic gifts we don't have on this team with his size and agility.

"With all that being said, he has a large, large growth and we are very encouraged at what we have seen from him so far."