The best season of Jaden Ivey’s young career came to an unfortunate halt on Wednesday. During the fourth quarter of the Detroit Pistons’ win over the Orlando Magic, Ivey suffered a broken left fibula after Cole Anthony collided with his leg while diving for a loose ball.
Ivey had successful surgery Thursday morning and will be re-evaluated by the team’s medical staff in four weeks, the Pistons announced. Durability was the third-year guard’s strong suit before this injury — he played 74 four games his rookie season and 77 games last season.
His absence will mean require more than just a starting lineup change for J.B. Bickerstaff and his coaching staff. Bickerstaff’s entire rotation will now need to be tinkered with to make up for Ivey’s lost production. More importantly, it’s a devastating injury to a player showing the potential this franchise saw when drafting him.
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Who replaces Ivey in the starting lineup?
When Ivey missed the Nov. 13 game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Malik Beasley and Ron Holland II started in place of him and Tim Hardaway Jr. (Ausar Thompson was also inactive for that game). In the other two games Ivey missed, Beasley started the first and Thompson started the second.
Beasley is averaging 26.7 points on 44.3 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from 3-point range, five rebounds and four assists per game in three contests without Ivey this season. Thompson is averaging 14 points on 47.8 percent from the field, 5.5 boards, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game in two outings without Ivey. As for Holland, the rookie posted 7.7 points on 52.9 percent from the field and 3.7 rebounds per game in his three contests without Ivey.
Each of the Pistons’ options who have started in Ivey’s absence this season has averaged better numbers than when Ivey was playing, although those stats have come from a small sample size.
Second-year guard Marcus Sasser, whose averages are also higher in games without Ivey this season, has a higher 3-point percentage than Ivey for his career. Sasser is a reliable shooter from deep, posting a career-best 39.6 percent from long range this year. He’s also averaging nearly a steal per game in 13.1 minutes per outing.
Wendell Moore Jr. could also see increased minutes. Moore is yet another player on this Detroit roster with better numbers when Ivey doesn’t play — which is much less about Ivey and more about what these players have been able to do with more opportunity than usual.
With the NBA’s trade deadline looming on Feb. 6, the Pistons’ outlook could also alter. As The Athletic’s John Hollinger pointed out last month, when Detroit waived Paul Reed before re-signing him, the Pistons have $14 million in cap space.
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Trajan Langdon is in his first season as Detroit’s general manager and can bolster the Pistons’ guard rotation if he sees fit. Before his time as the New Orleans Pelicans general manager from 2019 to 2024, Langdon also worked in the front offices for the Brooklyn Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs.
In Langdon’s first season at the helm with the Pelicans, during the 2019-20 season, he agreed to a three-team trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers.
New Orleans received Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, De’Andre Hunter, Brandon Ingram, cash considerations, a 2022 first-round pick that ended up being Dyson Daniel, a 2023 first-round pick and a 2025 first-round pick. Langdon also acquired Trey Murphy III, who is in the midst of his best season, via trade a day before the 2022 deadline.
Other than the Davis blockbuster, Langdon has been more on the modest side when it comes to the trade deadline. But Langdon could target another guard to try filling the hole Ivey leaves.
Detroit (15-18) enters Friday ninth in the Eastern Conference, in the Play-In race and only 2 1/2 games out of a playoff spot. The Pistons will hope to weather the storm without Ivey for likely at least a couple months, beginning with Friday’s home game against the Charlotte Hornets.
(Photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
