It doesn’t look like Jodie Meeks will suit up for the Detroit Pistons again this season.
The shooting guard has appeared in just two games this season as he continues to deal with a right foot injury. And now it doesn’t look like he’ll be playing at all again in 2015-16, per Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press:
Jodie Meeks missed yet another game Monday night.
And Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy admitted the shooting guard isn’t expected to be game-ready by the end of the season.
Van Gundy was asked that question after Monday morning’s shoot-around to prepare for the Bucks.
Van Gundy was quick with an answer.
“No, I don’t,” Van Gundy said. “Unfortunately.”
Meeks broke his foot in the second game of the season and just recently returned in a practice capacity. That he won’t play again this year isn’t exactly devastating, since the Pistons have been contending for a postseason bid without him, but it does ruin any hope they had of bolstering their second unit rotation ahead of the playoffs.
Though the Pistons rank in the top 10 of three-pointers made and attempted, they rank in the bottom 10 of deep-ball accuracy. Meeks is shooting better than 37 percent from deep for his career, and while his efficiency dipped through 60 appearances last season, the Pistons have more weapons this year. The dribble penetration of Tobias Harris and Reggie Jackson would leave him with a ton of open looks, all but guaranteeing his percentages would have significantly climbed.
Meeks has one year worth around $6.5 million left on his deal. If healthy, he can most certainly help the Pistons as a complementary marksman. If he’s not, well, the Pistons don’t have many options. His salary is guaranteed, and no team, in all likelihood, will trade for him after he’s missed so much time over each of the last two campaigns.
