Pistons Player Preview: If Cade Cunningham brings stability to Detroit, wins will follow

Cade finally has the pieces around him to succeed in the NBA

This isn’t how it’s supposed to work.

When teams land the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft , it’s supposed to be a solution — one that occurs sooner than later. Often, those teams struggle for a season or two before hitting their stride. When that arrow starts pointing up, it stays pointing up.

That hasn’t been the case for Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons .

While Cunningham has more than flashed his immense potential over his first three seasons, the team has done nothing with it. Detroit has won 23% of its games (32-106 record) with him on the floor and 20% (22-86) without him.

I really don’t know if that stat means much. The Pistons have lacked… a lot over the course of Cade’s career. Chief among them, though, is stability. This is the most unstable franchise in pro sports. Coaches and veteran teammates? They come they go. Saturday through Sunday, Monday Monday through Sunday, yo.

The only constant for Cunningham in Detroit is the talent, but often over-matched and out-gunned group of young teammates he’s weathered this hellish storm with.

That core is still here, and a new coach is starting once again in J.B. Bickerstaff, but with new front office lead Trajan Langdon in the driver’s seat, it feels like a true fresh start and, despite the group not playing a real game yet, the roots of something stable.

That starts with Cade.

OFFENSE

We’re in an era of NBA basketball where the heliocentric offense is king. If you’ve got a star, he’s the sun. I mean, he’s the sun and you’re the universe. OK, what I mean is that dude has the ball every possession and he makes most of the decisions.

The Dallas Mavericks with Luka Doncic are a perfect analogy here because for years there’s been a narrative that Cade can be like Luka (he can’t) and that the Pistons should run their offense similarly to Dallas (they shouldn’t).

Luka is special, he’s the rare player who can do everything. His skill level is off the charts. He’s able to score from everywhere, and his passing is otherworldly. He’s built to carry the load, and that’s why he leads the NBA usage rate — 36% last season.

Cade wasn’t far behind at 30% which was 10th highest in the league. There’s nothing Cade does that can match Luka even two seasons ago. I don’t think the best version of Cade is in that role.

As good as he is scoring the ball from the mid-range and from three, plus his elite-level playmaking, I think he’d see a massive jump in efficiency if he wasn’t the straw that stirs the Pistons drink every time down the floor

Cade was fifth in the league in turnovers at 3.4 per game, and that number is always going to be high because stars in this version of the NBA have the ball so much they always turn it over a ton. I think Cade’s turnover issues stem from a few places:

• He’s got the ball so damn much, it’s gonna happen
• He makes some extremely lazy passes in the lane, a bad habit to have 138 games in
• He’s never had a stable offensive ecosystem

That third one is key.

We’ve seen him in the Dwane Casey offense, which by the end of the year he was doing some pretty incredible things in as a rookie. That was a more analytically-based system where those shots at the rim, free throw line and behind the arc were prioritized.

Monty Williams’ offense was… horrific, but it was supposed to be about making quick decisions to get good shots anywhere. That obviously didn’t work and I don’t think the lack of continuity within that system did Cade any favors.

Bickerstaff is focused on the same principals of Casey but with the ball movement that Williams preached but never delivered. This clip from the preseason opener is a perfect example of how Cade can be involved in a possession but not exert 100% energy getting a good shot:

I’d love to see more of this from him. I love him as the alpha creator, but I think Cade can play off the ball extremely well. He doesn’t get bored, he’s engaged and a good navigator around traffic to get to his spots.

It gives purpose to guys like Jaden Ivey and Tobias Harris, who are capable of getting their own shot and attracting significant attention from opposing defenses. Part of being a star in the NBA is the gravity your presence creates. It’s taking the lack of spacing you have due to the aggressiveness double teams you receive to get the ball moving and create a scramble for the defense.

It was clear Langdon targeted shooting and length this offseason and I think having more space — or simply having space with every lineup — will allow Cunningham to flourish. He’ll make better decisions with more spacing, he’ll create more buckets for teammates when they can make shots, and he, himself, can be more efficient by embracing a better diet of shots.

If there’s a path to the All-Star Game for Cade this season, it starts here.

DEFENSE

And if there’s a path to superstardom for Cade this season, it starts here.

Cunningham has flashed plenty of his upside on the offensive end, but that doesn’t always shine through on defense. I think part of that is simply fatigue and effort. He doesn’t mail it in, but when you have to carry such a huge load, you’re defense is going to lag.

Not many are wired like the Kobe Bryants or Michael Jordans of the world, guys who exerted 100% energy on both ends of the court every, single, night.

That’s not an excuse for Cade, though. He needs to be more engaged. Detroit has done a good job acquiring wing-sized defenders who can handle some of the more difficult matchups and spell Cade from chasing the other star around the floor.

Guys like Ron Holland III and, when he returns, Ausar Thompson, can more than handle the primary offensive option on the other team for stretches. If Cade’s able to settle into the middle ground between “hide him in the corner” and “put him on their start” the Pistons will be just fine this season.

But… just because he isn’t a lockdown defender doesn’t mean he isn’t dynamic at times. He’s got some juice on the defensive end with plays like this:

If Cade is going to be an All-Star or All-NBA caliber player this season, he’s going to have to sprinkle in more moments like this along with his offensive exploits.

OVERALL EXPECTATION

I’ve been extremely bullish on Cade since his rookie season. I think missing his entire second season was a huge deal because he lost nearly a full year of lead ball handler reps and returned to the most toxic and dysfunctional team in Pistons history last year.

Now, things are settled. He’s got a roster that fits, a coach who gives a shit and veteran shooters who will make his life easier. If Cade isn’t an All-Star, I’ll be disappointed. He’s a max player and, for most of his career, I’ve been quick to blame the team’s dysfunction for almost everything that has adversely impacted Cunningham.

That time is over. When you’re a max player, you get max expectations. There’s no more, “oh cadeeeeeee you need help wahhh” because it’s now, “Cade, make this work.”

I think he’s ready for that and I think the Pistons are built to make that a reality. That’s why it’s the single most interesting thing to me about this team this season.