Cade Cunningham and the Pistons should learn from Luka Doncic

Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons will be watching Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks closely for a few reasons.

Dallas has a future free agent in Jalen Brunson who the Pistons are reportedly “planning a big-money offer” for this offseason, so they’ll be monitoring his game and how it might fit with Cade Cunningham.

Cade Cunningham has often been compared to Luka Doncic, which makes some sense. Both are big lead guards who can score from all three levels, make plays for their teammates and act as a leader in the huddle.

Doncic is already one of the best players in the NBA at 23-years-old, a walking triple-double threat who does everything for his team. He dragged a mediocre roster to the 4th seed in the Western Conference and is probably the guy most GM’s would choose if they could start a team with one current player.

In many ways, he’s exactly what the Detroit Pistons want Cade Cunningham to become, but there are some things about Luka’s career so far that Detroit should try to avoid.

Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks are boring

I may be in the minority here, but I find the Dallas Mavericks boring to watch.

The entire offense is pretty much just Luka, who had a 37.4 usage rate this season, highest of his career. Doncic racks up huge assist numbers mostly because he’s the only one who has the ball, and he is either going to shoot it out of isolation or pass to an open teammate as the shot clock runs down.

This isn’t his fault, as Doncic is not exactly playing with an All-Star cast (more on that in a minute), but the Dallas offense is pretty easy to game plan for right now.

In last night’s loss to the Suns, no one other than Doncic and Brunson took more than six shots. The entire rest of the starting five took 11 shots combined. The Mavs’ bench took 20 shots total, with eight players taking fewer combined shots than Doncic.

The Mavericks were 26th in assists as a team, behind even the Detroit Pistons, who had one of the worst offenses in the NBA this season.

The Pistons’ offense was at its best this season when the ball was moving and everyone was getting involved. Although Cade Cunningham didn’t match Doncic’s assist totals (mostly because his teammates couldn’t hit shots), he also wasn’t handling the ball nearly as much (27.5% usage).

Cunningham was criticized for his high turnover rate, but he actually averaged fewer per game than Luka, mostly because Doncic ALWAYS has the ball. Cade’s turnover percentage was slightly higher than Doncic’s but you’d expect that from a rookie point guard.

Luka Doncic is an exciting player, but his team’s offense is boring to watch and I hope the Pistons avoid playing this style with Cade Cunningham, especially after he has better teammates, which is something I am sure Doncic also wishes he had.

The Pistons need to give Cade Cunningham a better supporting cast early in his career

It’s a testament to Luka’s greatness that he was able to drag this team to the 4th seed in a competitive Western Conference because his supporting cast is pretty much the worst of any superstar.

I like Jalen Brunson, but does anyone really see him as the second-best player on a title team?

The Mavericks are currently starting former Piston Reggie Bullock, who is a nice role player, but again, does he strike you as the starting wing on a title team?

Luka Doncic is in his 4th season and who is the best player he’s played with? Jalen Brunson? Kristaps Porzingis? Tim Hardaway Jr.?A 40-year-old Dirk Nowitzki?

Again, it shows how great Luka is, as he’s never really had a second star to play off of and would probably have to play less iso-hero ball if he did.

The Detroit Pistons have a better chance to build a strong supporting cast around Cade Cunningham, as they already have Saddiq Bey (who has future All-Star potential) and will hopefully land another high-ceiling talent with their top-7 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

They also have Jerami Grant, who is arguably as good as anyone Luka has ever played with.

Luka has made the playoffs in 3-of-4 seasons, so it’s not like the Mavs haven’t had any team success, but imagine what he could do if he had more talent around him? Both Bey and Grant would start for the Mavericks.

So the Pistons are already ahead of the Mavs in that regard, but they don’t want to be in Cade’s 4th season and still wondering who the second guy is going to be.

In so many ways, Luka Doncic is exactly the player Cade Cunningham wants to be, but the Pistons should avoid a “one man band” approach with their young star.