Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Rodney Stuckey’s future with the Detroit Pistons is not something to bet the mortgage on. Whether or not he stays with the team next year is anyone’s best guess. The slight majority would favor that he’ll probably stay. It depends on the new coach and also the players the Pistons get in the draft and sign in free agency.
Stuckey probably would have not been around if Lawrence Frank would have returned as coach. It’s little secret that Frank didn’t like what he thought was Stuckey’s lethargic approach to things, namely on how he prepared himself and performed on the court.
The fact is that Stuckey had his poorest season last year since his rookie campaign. When he was a rookie for 2007-08, he averaged 19.0 minutes, 7.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists a game. He stepped it up to 31.9 minutes, 13.4 points, 4.9 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game his second season when he shot a career high of 43.0 percent from the floor. His fourth season was his best at 16.6 points, 4.8 assists and 3.8 rebounds and 34.2 minutes. He slipped a little bit his following season in points at 15.5 but averaged 5.2 assists.
Last season, Stuckey and other NBA players had to endure the lockout and he played 55 games and his minutes were down to 29.9. He averaged 14.8 points, 3.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds a game.
At that time, it seemed like Stuckey was going slightly backward rather than forward in his career.
He usually was a starter but with Kyle Singler coming into the lineup and with Stuckey not getting along with Frank, he started 24 of the 76 games he appeared in for 28.6 minutes per game, his lowest average since his first season. His 11.5 points and 3.6 assists were also lower since his rookie season.
Those numbers basically outline why Stuckey could soon be trade bait for the Pistons.
