Getty Cade Cunningham waits on the court during a timeout.
The Detroit Pistons just finished their fifth consecutive season missing the playoffs, after putting together a ghastly 14-68 record under new head coach Monty Williams. The future, however, looks bright, as it appears 22-year-old phenom Cade Cunningham will be in Detroit for a while.
James L. Edwards of The Athletic reported, “I’m 99.9 percent sure that Cunningham gets an extension this offseason. I don’t want to say 100 percent because you never know what can happen, but I’d be stunned if the 2021 No. 1 overall pick doesn’t sign a max rookie extension.”
One College Season, One NBA Season
Cunningham played just one season in college at Oklahoma State, with impressive averages of 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game as a freshman. Under Cunningham’s leadership, the Cowboys would go 21-9, securing a spot in the NCAA Tournament, where they’d lose to Oregon State in the Round of 32.
The Pistons franchise needed a playmaker to build around and having the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, they chose Cunningham. The expectations were that he could come in and make a big difference for a mismatched Pistons team that went just 20-52 the previous season with Blake Griffin, Jerami Grant and Derrick Rose seeing action.
Rookies predictably have highs and lows, and Cunningham was no exception. He finished third in Rookie of the Year voting after averaging 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.2 steals. The team started 12-45 before a respectable 11-14 finish to the season, as Cunningham began to acclimate to the NBA game.
Surprisingly, the 5-man lineup of Saddiq Bey, Cunningham, Grant, Cory Joseph and Isaiah Stewart were a plus-6 points per 100 possessions, though the next 10 lineups in terms of minutes played were all in the negative.
The Injury and The Comeback
The 2022-23 season was looking promising, with Cunningham finding his scoring touch and flirting with triple-doubles over his first 12 games. Unfortunately, it was revealed he needed surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left leg and his season was over.
Cunningham noted to ESPN how he used the downtime to improve, saying “I definitely learned a lot about myself and my mental makeup and everything, but I think mostly, I learned a lot more about my teammates, not being always on the court with them. Kind of seeing them from a coach’s perspective with just watching their game, watching their habits and things like that, I feel like I learned a lot more about my teammates that will help me through the season.”
With a new coach in Williams and a very young squad, the 2023-24 Pistons started strong, losing a heartbreaking one-point contest to the Miami Heat before defeating the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls. Then, the history books came into play in the worst way. The Pistons would set an NBA record with 28 consecutive losses before defeating the Toronto Raptors to move to 3-29. The Pistons cycled through 31 players during the season en route to a 14-68 record.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom, though, as Cunningham would put together an excellent month of December, averaging 25.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.5 assists with a respectable shooting line of .500/.354/.863. He ended the season posting career highs in points per game (22.7), assists per game (7.5), field goal percentage (44.9%), 3-point percentage (35.5%) and free-throw percentage (86.9%).
Extending to the Future
With one year left on his rookie deal, Cunningham will earn $13.9 million in 2024-25 before becoming a restricted free agent. He represents the future of the Pistons, with a career trajectory that points towards stardom and extending him rather than waiting for free agency in 2025-26 would ensure that Cunningham knows the Pistons believe in him.
In what is either terrific timing or sheer luck, the Pistons have a ton of cap room opening up after 2024-25, with only Stewart, Ausar Thompson, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Marcus Sasser under contract, the latter four with a club option.
Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but the 2025 free agent class features a terrific mix of both veterans and in-their-prime superstars. With another season of improvement from Cunningham, pairing him with a star would vault the Pistons right back into NBA relevancy.