Anonymous Pistons Executive Makes Bold Jaden Ivey Statement Amid Offseason

Anonymous Pistons Executive Makes Bold Jaden Ivey Statement Amid Offseason originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The Detroit Pistons are coming off a historic turnaround season that saw them go from having the worst record in the NBA the prior two seasons to making the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.

There were many factors that played into the Pistons’ turnaround as star guard Cade Cunningham took a major leap while the team also saw the rest of their young players continue to develop and take on a larger role.

Detroit also added multiple veteran last offseason like Malik Beasley and Tobias Harris who also played a key role in their success.

Despite making the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign, the Pistons were unable to pick up a series victory in the playoffs as they fell to the New York Knicks in six games in the first round.

Earlier this week, Keith Smith released that an anonymous Pistons executive believed that if Detroit had guard Jaden Ivey healthy during their playoff run last season things would have turned out differently.

“Look, if we have Jaden last year, we win our first playoff series in forever. We believe that 100%,” the anonymous executive said.

An anonymous Detroit Pistons executive:

“Look, if we have Jaden [Ivey] last year, we win our first playoff series in forever. We believe that 100%.”

via @KeithSmithNBApic.twitter.com/ziegzo6ypw

— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) July 23, 2025

Of course, Ivey missed the Pistons’ playoff run last season after he suffered a broken leg 30 games into the season, which was a massive blow for Detroit.

In 30 games last season, the 23-year-old guard averaged 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while shooting 46.0% from the field and 40.9% from three.

While the loss of Ivey was a massive blow to the Pistons, this is a bold statement by the anonymous executive and one that shows just how important Ivey is to Detroit’s success.

Ivey is set to return for the Pistons at the beginning of next season and there is no doubt that he will once again have a large role with the team as Detroit looks to advance past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 25, 2025, where it first appeared.