Detroit Pistons: The Impact Of Jodie Meeks' Injury

When the Detroit Pistons signed Jodie Meeks as a free agent this summer, a lot of eyebrows were raised. Meeks was coming off two solid years with the Lakers, yet no one thought he would fetch quite as much as the three-year, $19 million deal that Detroit forked up for him.

The move was somewhat justified due to the Pistons’ desperate need for 3-point shooters, but one thing is for sure, what happened next was not part of the plan.

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After playing in Detroit’s opening preseason game, Meeks has been absent with a niggling back injury since. Looking for some clarity,

Perry A. Farrell of the Detroit Free Press

reported that the Pistons sent Meeks for a CT scan on Monday, and unfortunately the results weren’t good. Meeks is suffering from a stress reaction in his lower back, and is facing at least eight weeks on the sidelines.

According to Farrell, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy was as disappointed to hear the news as you would have expected, yet even he was unable to clear up the exact origin of the injury.

"“After the first exhibition game, he said there was some tightness. We were going to start him the second game that night and, after a nap, he said he had some tightness in his back. He did the MRI and found out the problem.”"

Van Gundy continued:

"“Jodie’s going to be out awhile. It’ll probably be a couple of months before he’s back. He doesn’t have any idea how he did it. He didn’t take a fall on the floor. It wasn’t even a part of my four-hour practice. We have no idea what happened.”"

Although for peace of mind the Pistons would of course like to know the exact cause of Meeks’ injury, the reality is it makes no real difference. Either way, they’re going to be without him for around eight weeks, and now need to game plan accordingly. With other free agent signings like D.J. Augustin, Caron Butler and Cartier Martin on board, Detroit do have other 3-point shooting options, but no one who is quite as prolific as Meeks.

Although all four of those guys shot pretty close to 40 percent from distance last season, Meeks did so while attempting more than 400 3-pointers, a feat the other three couldn’t get near matching.

It’s hard to know just what impact the injury will have on the Pistons’ rotation at the moment, because it doesn’t seem like anybody truly knows what the Pistons best team is yet. Meeks’ injury could give guys like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Singler the opportunity to assert themselves and assume control of a starting spot, or on the other hand it could see to further experimentation with Josh Smith at small forward.

What’s perfectly clear at the moment is that the injury, and its timing, couldn’t be further from ideal for the Pistons anyway. With the team’s transition to greater 3-point shooting, Jodie Meeks was going to be a key figure, and to lose him before the season even kicks off is a significant blow.

There are still plenty of positives for Detroit to push forward with as tipoff approaches, but the new look Pistons have suffered their first major setback.

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Detroit Pistons: The Impact Of Jodie Meeks’ Injury

By Adam McGee | Oct 15, 2014