Is Jaden Ivey playing today?
The Detroit Pistons make their first NBA playoff appearance in six years Saturday evening in Game 1 against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, but they won’t have their starting shooting guard on the court in New York City. Ivey as expected is the only player officially ruled “out” for the 6 p.m. tipoff. No other Piston is listed on the injury report.
Ivey has missed 49 games since he fractured the fibula in his lower-left leg on Jan. 1 when Orlando’s Cole Anthony upended him while diving for a loose ball.
The injury timeline recovery is typically 4-6 months before return to play. Ivey had surgery Jan. 2, meaning he just passed 3½ months removed from surgery. And there was no damage to his ligaments or tendons, leaving the team with optimism at the time that he could return in the playoffs.
The Pistons were 15-18 at the time of Ivey’s injury, then went 29-20 to claim the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, their best finish since 2008.
Here’s what we know about Ivey’s playoff status for the Pistons in the playoffs:
When will Jaden Ivey return from injury to Pistons?
The last Pistons update on Ivey came April 10, when they announced he had been cleared for basketball activity.
“He will now enter the beginning phase of a re-conditioning progression along with a continued progression of court work,” the Pistons’ statement read.
The Pistons said Ivey, who turned 23 in February, would be re-evaluated in two weeks, which would be this coming Thursday — the same day as Game 3.
It seems unlikely Ivey would return for the first-round series, but theoretically, the longer the Pistons-Knicks series goes, the better chance he’d have to return. A potential Game 7 is May 3.
Jaden Ivey stats this season
Ivey was second on the Pistons with a 17.6 points per game average in 2024-25 before his injury. Here are key per-game stats and percentages from his third season:
Games: 30 (all starts)Points: 17.6Assists: 4Rebounds: 4.1Steals: 0.9Blocks: 0.4Turnovers: 3Field goals: 46% (13.8 FGA)3-pointers: 40.9% (5.1 3PA)2-pointers: 49% (8.6 3PA)Free throws: 73.3% (3.9 FTA)Effective field goal percentage: 53.6True shooting percentage: 56.9
Jaden Ivey contract
Ivey is in Year 3 of his four-year, $32.9 million rookie-scale contract signed in 2022 after he was the fifth overall pick by the Pistons out of Purdue.
Ivey made $7.9 million this season, and the Pistons picked up his fourth-year option worth $10.1 million, according to Spotrac.
Ivey is eligible for a rookie extension this summer. If no deal is reached, he would play out the final year of his rookie contract in the 2025-26 season. That summer, the Pistons would almost certainly make him a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent, which would allow the club to match any potential offer from another team.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jaden Ivey injury: Will Pistons guard return for playoffs vs Knicks?