The Detroit Pistons will shift Paul Reed into a more prominent role during Isaiah Stewart’s absence
Last week, the Detroit Pistons defended home court against the Memphis Grizzlies with a 126-110 victory on Friday night, but the Eastern Conference’s top squad suffered a quiet blow that is beginning to creep into a pre-playoffs issue.
In Detroit’s double-digit win, sixth-year big man Isaiah Stewart battled through an injury to his left calf in a 20-minute showing, but the defensive juggernaut was noticeably limited in the contest. Stewart was held out of the Pistons next game, which was a 119-108 loss to the Toronto Raptors, and Detroit finally revealed the extent of Beef Stew’s ailment.
Ahead of their 7 pm tilt against the Washington Wizards later tonight, the Pistons announced that Stewart is tabbed to miss at least one week as he rehabs the injury. In one week, the Detroit medical team will reevaluate Stewart to determine when he can rejoin the Pistons’ rotation.
Before Detroit’s game against the Grizzlies on Sunday, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff touched on Stewart’s health status in a pre-game press conference, and the All-Star coach confirmed that Beef Stew would be out for “ a minute” since the team was going to take their time in handling the injury appropriately.
“It’s something he’s been dealing with,” Bickerstaff told Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press before the Raptors game. “It had just been getting worse. He gutted it out last game, and I think you can see he was favoring it late.”
So, the Pistons are opting to shut Stewart down for the time being with the postseason just around the corner. However, the early returns without Beef Stew patrolling the paint on defense have not been kind to Detroit. In their last game, the Pistons were outworked and outright dominated on the glass, and Detroit gave up nine offensive rebounds to the Raptors in the process. Those second chance opportunities allowed for Toronto to sustain control of the basketball for lengthy possessions that ultimately broke the Pistons resolve to fight in the paint without Stewart in the lineup.
Since Stewart will be unavailable for the Pistons for at least the next week, Detroit will shift a bit more responsibility into Paul Reed’s lap, but the utility big man has served admirably in his limited opportunities during the 2025-26 season. Reed has earned Bickerstaff’s trust as a noted hard worker, and B-Ball Paul will have another chance to show why the Pistons have perhaps the deepest center rotation in the league.
For more information on the latest Detroit Pistons team or player news, follow @EricJRutter on X for continued basketball coverage. Also be sure to look up Roundtable - Michigan Men Media on Facebook for continued social media coverage of all the sporting teams in the Mitten.