ATLANTA — Jaden Ivey continues to make significant progress in his recovery from an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee. The Detroit Pistons assigned Ivey to the Motor City Cruise on Tuesday.
Ivey will not play a game for the Pistons’ G League affiliate. The sole purpose of his assignment will be to help Ivey get back up to speed with some on-court workouts with the team. But despite the latest move, there is still no timeframe for Ivey’s return.
“He is making progress; assigning him there allows him to get some live court work,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “That’s the next step in his progression before we get him back on the floor. Hopefully, everything goes positively there, and then we will be able to take the next step.”
Ivey was assigned to the G League just four days after he participated in a brief on-court workout during team shootaround at the Henry Ford Pistons Performance Center on Friday.
He later took part in a pregame workout ahead of the Pistons’ 114-105 Emirates NBA Cup victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Three days later, Ivey then participated in another pregame workout before the Pistons’ 127-112 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday at Little Caesars Arena.
Ivey underwent the procedure on his right knee on Oct. 16 after suffering the injury during training camp. Bickerstaff revealed that the injury happened while Ivey was working his way back from the broken left fibula he sustained on Jan. 1, which prematurely ended what had been his career-best season.
Before going down with the leg injury against the Orlando Magic, Ivey had appeared in 30 games, averaging a career-best 17.6 points on 40.9% 3-point shooting, along with 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
Ivey has played in one game over the previous 11 months, during the Pistons’ 128-112 preseason victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Oct. 6. Ivey played 13 minutes, recording seven points and one assist. He displayed his famous quickness at the end of the second quarter. With 4.8 seconds left in the period, Ivey took the ball the length of the floor to score on an And-1 layup before time expired.
“He’s progressing well and feeling good; he has taken steps in the right direction,” Bickerstaff said. “He is excited. He wants to get out there with his teammates. His spirit is good. He is progressing and working really hard.”