The opportunity was there for Isaiah Livers to seize a major role off the bench with the Detroit Pistons as the forward enters his third year in the NBA, but once again injuries will sidetrack those plans.
Livers, who has dealt with various injuries throughout his collegiate and pro career, will be sidelined for six to eight weeks with what the team is calling a grade III ankle sprain. The team made the update on media day, noting that he suffered the ankle sprain in a pre-training camp workout.
An unnamed injury and the potential two-month recovery timeline was first reported by Sean Murphy on Twitter with Locked On Pistons host Ku Khahil reporting the issue was Livers’ ankle.
It’s the latest setback for a player who has looked like a potential contributor every moment he’s been on the floor for the Pistons, but the caveat being that he has not been on the floor nearly as much as player or team would like.
Livers was drafted in the second round in 2021, missing the end of his senior season with a stress injury in his right foot that required six months for recovery. He was limited to just 19 games during his rookie season, but he shot better than 42% from 3 and displayed solid court awareness on both ends of the court.
His sophomore NBA season was limited to 52 games largely due to a shoulder injury that kept him in street clothes.
With more experience under his belt and a lack of depth at the power forward position, this seemed like the year Livers could entrench himself in the Pistons’ plans. Now, he might not see the court until mid-December and will likely be on the outside looking in as he fights for a place in new coach Monty Williams’ rotation.
In two NBA seasons, he is averaging 6.6 points, 2.8 rebounds with shooting splits of 42/37/83.