Rodney Stuckey to be re-examined on Friday

With the regular season tipping on Wednesday, Oct. 30, it's still possible that injured Rodney Stuckey (thumb) could be part of the Pistons' rotation, if not in the starting lineup. After all, Maurice Cheeks insists he still doesn't know who his starting guards will be.

Cheeks might have a better idea on Friday after Stuckey has his surgically repaired thumb re-examined. Keith Langlois explains:

Stuckey is due to have his broken thumb X-rayed and re-examined on Friday, two weeks since surgery to repair the broken tip suffered when he slammed it in his car door while carrying his infant son. Cheeks said that if he's cleared to play, he'll go back on the court and be evaluated for readiness.

This falls in line with Cheeks' hope following Stuckey's successful surgery.

During Stuckey's absence, nobody impressed enough to put his place in the rotation, wherever that may be, in a whole lot of doubt when he returns. The rookies certainly struggled, as rookies tend to do. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope played the third-most minutes (221) and put up the second-most shots (80) on the team during the preseason, but only hit 33 percent of his tries. Peyton Siva's shooting percentage was similar and he turned the ball over 21 times to boot.

With Brandon Jennings expected to miss the start of the season and Chauncey Billups too old to play heavy minutes night in and night out, if Stuckey's cleared to return to basketball activities, it sounds like he'll get plugged right back in to the backcourt mix.