Will Pistons Collapse With Cade Cunningham’s Lung?

Less than 48 hours later, ESPN senior insider Shams Charania reported that the 2025-26 All-Star “has been diagnosed with a collapsed lung.”

Then making an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, Charania clarified that Cunningham’s lung injury is considered “mild.”

Of course, many people will ask just how mild a collapsed lung could be, given the inherent seriousness of it. Nevertheless, he also added an important detail about Cunningham’s recovery timeline. The Pistons “are not quite sure exactly how long” Cunningham will need to return to full health. However, “there is some optimism that he’s going to be back for the playoffs…”

Will The Pistons’ Playoff Hopes Collapse, Too?

The Pistons will play 14 regular season games over the next four weeks. Currently 11.5 games ahead of the seventh-place Miami Heat, they should be able to avoid the Play-In Tournament barring a complete collapse. With the 2026 NBA Playoffs scheduled to start on April 18, six days after Detroit’s final regular season game, that means the Pistons won’t have to hit the panic button for about five weeks.

After that, it’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen.

Who Will The Pistons Face In The First Round?

Depending on how they fare through April 12, Detroit could face any of the teams still in the East’s playoff hunt in the first round. Even if they had Cunningham, whose chances of returning to the court increase the longer the Pistons stay alive, they’d likely prefer to avoid the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat. In their season series against their Central Division rival, they’re 2-2. In their season series against, the South Florida-based squad, they’re 1-2. The Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio Spurs are the only other teams that have beaten them twice this season.

With that being said, if Cunningham is unavailable, Detroit may not outplay anyone in a seven-game series.

Fighting Against Fatalism?

Statistically, Cunningham is clearly the Pistons’ most important piece. He’s the only one scoring at least 20+ points per game. His assist average (9.9 per game) is more than three times higher than the next closest average (3.1 per game). In terms of his skill set, he’s the only player they have who can consistently beat a defense off-the-dribble and make plays for himself or others at a high volume.

Still, every now and then Tobias Harris looks like a player who should be paid $26.6 million. Early in the season, Daniss Jenkins was on fire, leading to him earning a standard contract. Season-highs of 21 points and eight assists highlight Ausar Thompson‘s growth as an on-ball creator. Terror Twin Ron Holland has scored in double-digits in four of his last five games. Caris LeVert has taken a backseat this season but averaged 18.5 points per game from 2019-20 to 2021-22. Similarly, Kevin Huerter averaged a career-high 15.2 points per game in 2022-23. Jalen Duren is definitely going to be an x-factor, especially averaging a career-high 19.0 points per game this season.

Though losing a player of Cunningham’s caliber could lead to feelings of fatalism, the Pistons have to fight against that. They have to fight to win, and for each other. For a team that’s built a reputation of being, well… fighters, that shouldn’t be too hard. At the very least, it should be a lot easier than actually coming away with a victory without Cunningham in tow.