Cade Cunningham driving successfully in January for Pistons

The month of January has been a strange one for Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons.

They’ve gotten some quality wins against teams like the Bucks and Jazz but have also suffered some of their worst blowouts in recent memory.

Cunningham has been playing more consistently in 2022, and has declared himself the best rookie in the league, and he may be right, though Evan Mobley certainly has something to say about that.

Cunningham has been shooting fewer 3-point shots lately, which is probably a good thing, as he can fill it up in the mid-range and by driving to the hoop, which he has done more frequently this month.

Some of these drives have come as the secondary playmaker off the ball, a spot where we should see Cade more frequently, as playing off ball can get him easier shots at times and take some of the burden off him to do everything for the Pistons on offense.

While Cade started the season launching a ton of 3’s, lately he’s been trying to drive to the hoop more an it’s been effective.

Cade Cunningham driving successfully for the Detroit Pistons

According to NBA.com, Cade Cunningham is driving more in January than he has in previous months:

"“The rookie has averaged 15.7 drives per 36 minutes in January, up from 13.5 per 36 in December and 12.2 in October and November.”"

Not only is he driving more, but he’s getting results, shooting 55.9 percent on drives, which puts him in the top-10 of the NBA for January, just ahead of MVP dark horse Ja Morant.

Cunningham is not lightning fast, but he knows how to use change of pace and his size to get where he wants on the floor and rise up.

He’s been effective in the mid-range lately, though his overall numbers for the season are not great.

Cade Cunningham came into the NBA with the reputation as a three-level scorer and we are seeing more of that, as he has attempted just 3.6 long-range shots per game over his last six, focusing more on getting closer to the rim.

Cade has the size and crafty drives to be an effective mid-range scorer and is even better the closer he gets to the hoop.

The 3-point shot is always going to be a weapon for Cade Cunningham, but it is nice to see him driving more and I hope this trend continues.