Cade Cunningham Shares Thoughts on Jaden Ivey's Setback

Ivey has been recovering from setbacks since January. As the Pistons faced the Orlando Magic in a January 1 game last season, Ivey went down with a season-ending injury after a defender crashed into his leg while diving for a ball.

There was a chance that Ivey could return to the court later in the postseason, but his reintroduction to the lineup probably would’ve waited until the second round. Since the Pistons lost to the New York Knicks in round one, Ivey’s season officially ended with just 30 appearances.

For what it’s worth, it was a career-best campaign for the former top-five pick, which added a lot of excitement to his fourth NBA season. Ivey was ready to go at the start of the preseason, but he ended up missing some action as the schedule reached the final couple of games.

Earlier this week, the Pistons considered Ivey’s absence against the Cleveland Cavaliers a rest night. Ahead of Thursday’s game against the Washington Wizards, it was revealed that there is more to it.

via Detroit Pistons PR: Pistons guard Jaden Ivey underwent an arthroscopic procedure earlier today to relieve right knee discomfort, the procedure and discomfort are unrelated to the fibula injury suffered last season. Ivey will begin the rehabilitation process immediately and will be re-evaluated in four weeks.

It’s been a tough road for Ivey, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier, but Cunningham knows that his young co-star is up for the challenge.

“His spirits never dropped. He just ducks his head and works,” Cunningham said of Ivey.

“I mean, that’s who he is. Doesn’t get ahead of himself. He just ducks his head and works every day. I know he’ll be fine. He’s gonna come back better than never. He’s just got to get all that stuff cleaned up. In the meantime, him not being available takes away from us a lot. He brings a lot of ability, so we've got to all lock in and take another step as far as finding out what it takes for us to fill in that gap.”

The Pistons’ 2025-2026 opening night lineup will miss some key players compared to last year’s team. Tim Hardaway Jr., Malik Beasley, Simone Fontecchio, and now Ivey won’t be around. At the very least, the Pistons expect to get Ivey back sometime soon, with hopes of seeing him find the same success while playing alongside Cunningham for another year.