Cade Cunningham Details Key to His Next Big Leap

Entering the NBA in 2021, Cunningham was the most notable prospect in his draft class. Coming out of Oklahoma State, Cunningham was viewed as the consensus No. 1 pick.

The Pistons, who were in the midst of a rebuild, won the lottery and made the no-brainer decision to select Cunningham. After a 64-game showing as a rookie, Cunningham did not earn Rookie of the Year honors, losing out to Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes.

In year two, Cunningham was stripped of the opportunity to surpass the sophomores who seemed to be ahead of him. An injury prevented Cunningham from playing in more than 12 games.

Through two seasons, Cunningham averaged 17.8 points and shot just 30 percent from three. There was a lot to improve in that area of his game.

Playing with a possible contract extension in front of him, Cunningham put up 22.7 points per game in 62 matchups during the 2023-2024 NBA season. The veteran guard earned his major pay ahead of the 2024-2025 NBA season, then proved to the Pistons they made the right choice once again.

Last year, Cunningham had a career year in the scoring department by producing 26.1 points per game in 70 matchups. He attempted threes at a career-high clip (6.0 per game) and made 35 percent of his shots from deep. The improvement from years 1 and 2 to 3 and 4 was 5 percent. Now, Cunningham wants to add more threes to his game.

Going into year five, Cunningham is expected to stay on the Eastern Conference All-Star list. He’ll continue to be the focal point of the Pistons’ offense, being their best scorer and playmaker by far. While it will be difficult for him to live up to his All-NBA year, Cunningham has shown steady improvement throughout his career.

The preseason doesn’t give too much away, but Cunningham already looks like a two-time All-Star in the making, based on his first couple of showings.