Stanley Umude Fractures Ankle, Done For Year

The hits just keep coming for the spiraling Detroit Pistons. Or perhaps the 12-57 club, with its 2023-24 season already done and nothing to play for, is being a bit overly cautious with another ailing player. Either way, second-year Pistons shooting guard Stanley Umude’s season is done. A Pistons press release today announced the bad news, according to Mike Curtis of The Detroit News.

The 6’6″ swingman out of Arkansas went unselected in the 2022 draft. He inked an Exhibit 10 training camp deal with the Pistons, but didn’t last through Detroit’s cuts heading into the regular season. So he pivoted, latching on with the team’s G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise. He made a cameo near the end of the 2022-2023 season, inking a 10-day deal in February. Umude appeared in just one game that season, scoring two points (both foul shots).

Umude was inked to a two-way deal with Detroit to start the 2023-24 season, and made the most of his opportunity. In his 19 regular season games with the Cruise this year (13 starts), Umude averaged 16.9 points on a .406/.335/.760 slash line, 6.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.7 blocks per bout. Across his 24 healthy games with Detroit proper, he posted averages of 5.3 points on .440/.453/.906 shooting splits, 2.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists. When the Pistons made some trades to offload veteran assets for future equity at this year’s deadline, the club elevated Umude onto its 15-man standard roster to give him more of a look.

The 24-year-old incurred a right ankle hairline fracture during a Wednesday defeat against the Pistons’ Central Division neighbors, the Indiana Pacers, Curtis indicates. Umude will not need surgery, meaning that the other treatments and rest are the solutions. He had started for Detroit ahead of Simone Fontecchio for his last two healthy games.

“We talked about him a lot this year… just his ability to have an impact in an NBA game when he wasn’t in a starting role,” head coach Monty Williams raved, per Curtis. “And then he gets a chance to start and has an injury like that. It’s a big blow to him and to us, based on where we are. We still have guys who have been working their tails off to get a chance to play. They’re going to get out there and compete and we’re going to try to win games.”

The Pistons also announced earlier this week that rookie Ausar Thompson and vet Isaiah Stewart would also be done for the season. Like many remaining Detroit fans watching, it appears the players are over this year. We sympathize.