Key Takeaways Despite the Pistons’ struggles, Cunningham has shown promise and skill in his first few seasons.
Detroit’s past franchise decisions have hindered Cunningham’s development and ability to lead the team.
With an improved roster, coaching staff and more experienced players, Cunningham is in the best environment to thrive this season.
The Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Cunningham was, and always has been, a point guard in a forward’s body.
At 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds with a 7-foot wingspan, the former Oklahoma State star brought some drastically different elements to the league as a pure floor general.
Rather than playing as an explosive scorer, Cunningham used his size, instincts and intelligence to run the Cowboys’ offense. Not that that meant he couldn’t score — he averaged 20.1 points, shot 40.0 percent from three and 84.6 percent from the free-throw line on nearly six attempts per game in his lone college season.
But the Texas native has always preferred to run the show rather than hunt his own shot; unfortunately, Detroit is not the place to be if your goal is to get teammates involved.
For several reasons, Cunningham has yet to live up to the potential he showed in college and has flashed at times in the NBA — reasons that haven’t been entirely in his control.
But it’s time for him to show his worth as one of the league’s best point guards. If the Pistons struggle again this season, Cunningham will disappear down the pecking order of young, potential up-and-coming stars.
Detroit is still rebuilding, as it has been since Cunningham arrived in The Motor City. But the Pistons have added some veteran talent this offseason, and along with some improvements from their young crop, it’s time for their 22-year-old point guard to lead the team to some wins.
Cade Cunningham’s Struggles Haven’t Entirely Been His Fault
Detroit is a bumbling franchise with no apparent plan
In the two drafts prior to selecting Cunningham, the Pistons grabbed Sekou Doumbouya No. 15 overall in 2019 and Killian Hayes No. 7 in 2020. It’s fair to say both were massive whiffs.
After Cunningham came Jaden Ivey , who’s struggled to make a significant impact thus far.
In 2023, Detroit grabbed Ausar Thompson, a defensive-minded wing with little to no offensive skills at this point in his career.
This summer saw the franchise draft Ron Holland with the fifth pick. Holland led the G League Ignite in scoring last year but was wildly inefficient and was mocked much lower because of his lack of an outside shot.
The Pistons have drafted in the lottery 12 of the last 15 seasons.
Detroit hired former Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams in the 2023 offseason and gave him a massive six-year, $78 million contract.
He was fired after one season. The Pistons still owe him $65 million.
Cunningham only played 12 games in his second season after having surgery to fix a stress fracture in his left leg. After finishing third in the Rookie of the Year voting, he could have benefitted from playing an entire season his sophomore year.
Even with Detroit losing a record 28 consecutive games last year, Cunningham rebounded to average 22.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists while shooting a career-high 35.5 percent from three.
Over his first three seasons, he’s averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.0 steals.
Even with all the issues listed above, most of which go franchise-deep, Cunningham hasn’t been able to put the Pistons on his back and carry them to wins. Admittedly, that’s a stain on his young resume.
This year, however, should be different.
Cunningham Is in the Best Environment of His Career
Detroit will still struggle, but there are signs of evolution
Williams ran out some odd rotations last year that didn’t do anything to help the Pistons’ young core.
Ivey, the team’s most promising prospect other than Cunningham, finished the season seventh in minutes per game. Jalen Duren , who started 60 games, was the only other constant in the starting lineup; no other player started more than 45 times.
It also didn’t help that Detroit decided to just say forget it and had 11 players on the roster age 23 or younger.
After firing Williams, the Pistons hired Trajan Langdon as president of basketball operations, who in turn hired JB Bickerstaff as head coach. Bickerstaff helped turn around the Cleveland Cavaliers , leading them through a rebuild and into back-to-back playoff appearances, including an Eastern Conference semifinals berth last season.
After leading a team unbelievably short on shooting, Cunningham will have the opportunity to run an offense that features veteran three-point marksman Malik Beasley (41.3 percent from deep on 6.9 attempts last season).
The Pistons also signed Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr. , two more professional scorers. Harris, going into his 14th NBA season, is a career 16.3 point-per-game scorer with career shooting splits of 48/37/84.
The 32-year-old Hardaway Jr. has a career scoring average of 14.0 points and averaged 18.1 in the 2019-20 season when he averaged a career-high 15.3 shot attempts per game.
Those three should see significant playing time on a roster that still skews incredibly young.
Ivey should have a new and more prominent role entering his third season. Bickerstaff oversaw the development of the Darius Garland -Donovan Mitchell backcourt in Cleveland and will likely incorporate some of the same ideas with Cunningham and Ivey.
Detroit has three new rotation players, two of whom are above-average three-point shooters, for Cunningham to work with going into his fourth season. He has a new head coach who’s dragged an NBA franchise through a rebuild and came out the other side.
He’s dealt with seemingly never-ending adversity during his career and will only turn 23 this season. With a new head coach and supporting cast, 2024-25 should finally be the season Cunningham breaks out as a franchise point guard.