Cade Cunningham after mediocre preseason for Detroit Pistons: 'Ready to keep moving forward'

Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham wasn't really giving it "his all" this preseason. Or rather, he wasn't looking to be too aggressive. It's not the mentality most alpha leaders take on the basketball court, but for Cunningham and the Pistons — it was the right mentality for the time.

You see, the Pistons are in the middle of a rebuild that has seen players come and go. Detroit has had plenty of new faces on the roster over the past few seasons. Sure, none are more important than Cunningham, but they all have to find a way to work together — to mesh — if the Pistons want to take another step forward this season.

That's why, as Cunningham tells it, we didn't see the ultra-assertive, superstar version of Cunningham this preseason. He averaged 10.5 points on just 31 percent shooting through four games, but those numbers didn't matter for Cunningham or the Pistons.

The numbers didn't tell the full story.

We’ve got new pieces around me, new guys that are just now getting into the flow of it. So I definitely wanted to have the offense moving and just have the ball moving – not just playing with me and me trying to be aggressive the whole time," Cunningham said when asked by Keith Langlois about his lack of assertion this preseason.

“I think it’s a balance effect. Me being aggressive opens up a lot of things for the team, as well. I learned that from the preseason and I’m ready to keep moving forward.”

Moving forward looks different for the Pistons depending on your expectations of the team this season, because they're still very young. 

Cunningham is the star, but key role players like Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart are still only in their third NBA seasons. Detroit did add two potential cornerstone pieces in No. 5 overall pick Jaden Ivey and No. 13 overall pick (via trade) Jalen Duren, but we'll have to wait and see how their college games transition to the bigger, faster NBA.

Whether a potential play-in team or back in the "tankathon" rankings, one thing is for certain about Detroit, though. The Pistons will go this season as Cunningham goes, so hopefully he really was just taking it easy this preseason.