It was a couple weeks back that the Detroit Pistons announced guard Jaden Ivey had been cleared for basketball activity. It was a big step forward for the 23-year-old, and it gave hopes to fans of a potential playoff return. He hasn’t played since January 1 amidst what had been a career-best season. With Saturday’s announcement, a Jaden Ivey return seems unlikely unless the Pistons can make a deep postseason run.
Update On Potential Jaden Ivey Return For Pistons Revealed
A Jaden Ivey Return Against The Knicks Has Been Ruled Out
The Pistons are down 2-1 in their opening round series of the playoffs against the New York Knicks. Game 4 takes place on Sunday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. If the series were to go a full seven games, it would end on Saturday, May 3.
With the update provided by the Pistons on Ivey, a return in this series has been essentially ruled out. The team announced that he is going through “a progression of basketball shooting and skill work along with continued re-conditioning and strength work”, and that he would be re-evaluated in two weeks.
The @DetroitPistons released the following medical update on guard Jaden Ivey: pic.twitter.com/708gcmIcG1
— Pistons PR (@Pistons_PR) April 26, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
With the Knicks series ending in no more than six days from now, the earliest a return could occur would be in the second round. Certainly, that isn’t a sure thing either if Detroit were able to advance, as the Pistons would want to be cautious with allowing Ivey to come back to play.
It was on January 1 where Ivey sustained a fractured left fibula in a game against the Orlando Magic. A collision with Magic guard Cole Anthony as both were going after a loose ball is where the injury occurred. He has now been out for nearly four months.
Since Ivey has been out of the lineup, the Pistons have inserted second-year player Ausar Thompson into his place in the starting lineup.
Was In Midst Of A Career-Best Season
It was in the 2022 NBA Draft where the Pistons selected Ivey with the fifth overall pick. While the 6-foot-4 shooting guard entered Detroit’s starting lineup right away, the team experienced little success. In his rookie year of 2022-23, the Pistons went 17-65. The following year, they went a franchise-worst 14-68.
This season was a remarkable turnaround where the Pistons more than tripled their win total going 44-38. While Ivey was around for the ride for the first few months, the injury ended his regular season prematurely. It was a shame as the third-year player was really making strides with his play on the court.
In 30 games (all starts), he posted averages of 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. Ivey also showed much-better scoring efficiency making 46.0% of his shots from the field and 40.9% from beyond the arc. That is a stark difference from his 42.2% shooting from the field and 33.9% from three-point range over his first two seasons.
While he has been missed, Pistons fans can be excited for next season once their postseason run ends to once again see their young backcourt of Ivey and Cade Cunningham jell even further.
Photo credit: © Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
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