Pistons' Cade Cunningham seems ready to finally become an All-Star

It has been a long time coming for Detroit Pistons star guard Cade Cunningham.

He was taken No. 1 overall in the 2021 NBA Draft out of Oklahoma State and is already in his fourth NBA season. It doesn't quite seem like that though, considering he lost most of Year 2 with a shin injury and subsequent surgery, and he's been playing one one of the worst teams in NBA history as of late. 

The Pistons have been easy to forget, thus Cunningham has been toiling in obscurity.

He's not been perfect — far from it — but he averaged 22.7 points, 7.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds last season on 44.9% shooting from the field and 35.5% behind the line (both career-high numbers).

Cunningham did that last season with very little help around him as the Pistons struggled to a 14-68 record.

They're already 0-1 this season after a loss to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night, but there were some signs that this is a Detroit team that will be much improved with a new coach in J.B. Bickerstaff, a new general manager in Trajan Langon and a new cast of veteran characters around Cunningham.

Of course, there's also Cunningham with another offseason of training under his belt, getting shots up and hitting the weight room.

Against Indiana, he got a slow start in the first half but exploded in the third quarter for 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting. He finished the game with 28 points in 37 minutes to go along with eight assists and five rebounds. 

He still needs to shore up his three-point shooting a bit, but he showed off the skillset that made him the No. 1 overall pick a few years ago in that second half — being able to both attack the paint and score at will when he's "on" his game.