Detroit Pistons president and coach Stan Van Gundy confirmed the report that guard Reggie Jackson could miss extended time because of left knee tendinitis on Wednesday. Jackson will definitely miss the beginning of the season, and Van Gundy told reporters that his timetable will be determined by what kind of treatment he chooses, via The Detroit News’ Rod Beard:
“He’s going to be out for a while,” Van Gundy said Wednesday. “We don’t know how long — and that’ll all be determined by what he chooses to do.
“He has not decided upon a treatment course yet; that decision should be in the next day or two. (Jackson) wanted to make sure they had a couple days to think about it after digesting what the doctors said.”
…
“It’s a tendinitis thing he hasn’t been able to manage. He also has a bone bruise in there now, which would have required him to have some rest anyway,” Van Gundy said. “The tendinitis is a problem that keeps recurring. He has several options and some of the options that are best long-term will take longer in terms of time.”
Depending on the course of treatment, Jackson could miss up to 6-8 weeks. That choice would be platelet-rich plasma, which Jackson previously had when he played in Oklahoma City.
Jackson was initially acquired when then-Pistons guard Brandon Jennings was sidelined with a torn Achilles in 2015. Van Gundy said that, this time, Detroit is not looking to make a trade to acquire another point guard. If the Pistons don’t sign a free agent, then they could go into the regular season with Ish Smith, Ray McCallum and/or Lorenzo Brown as their point guards.
With Jackson out, Smith will be the main beneficiary of playing time. There might also, however, be opportunities for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tobias Harris and Stanley Johnson to take on increased playmaking responsibility. Jackson generally shoulders a huge burden for Detroit in terms of running the pick-and-roll, creating shots for himself and finding shooters on the perimeter.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
