Detroit Pistons: Is Cade Cunningham really being “too passive?”

Cade Cunningham scored a season high 22 points last night against the Indiana Pacers, but it wasn’t enough to get the Detroit Pistons their second victory of the season.

We’re only three games in, so it is far too early to panic, especially when we knew this young team was going to take some time to gel and build chemistry.

There have been some positives in the three games, and flashes of things to come, especially from the two rookies who both look ahead of schedule.

One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard so far this season is that Cade Cunningham is being “too passive” something he actually said himself at the end of the preseason:

Fans have echoed this after Cade got out to a slow start in the first three games (search for Cade, passive on Twitter and you’ll see), as some expect development to be linear and for players to immediately improve from one season to the next, which is not exactly how things work.

Fans want to see Cade Cunningham dominate, and though he hasn’t done that yet, this idea of him being “too passive” is a little overblown.

Detroit Pistons: Inside the numbers for Cade Cunningham

Fans understandably want Cunningham to be a superstar and to take over games offensively, which he has in spurts so far in the first three games.

He hasn’t had the big breakout game yet (thought it was coming last night) but it isn’t because he’s being passive, it’s because he’s not making shots.

Cade’s points, shot attempts and assists are all up from last season and his turnovers are down, so this “slow” start where he is being “too passive” is actually an improvement from last season. Cade is taking 18.3 shot attempts per game this season so far, and while I agree that he should be shooting 3-4 more shots per game, it’s not like he’s passing up a ton of open shots.

The problem is that he’s not making them, as Cade has shot just 39 percent from the floor so far, with most of the trouble coming inside of the arc. He’s missed a bunch of bunnies that will start to drop, so I am not worried about Cunningham at all.

He’s also doing his best to set up teammates and spread the ball around, and this season he actually has other guys (Jaden Ivey, Bojan Bogdanovic) who can score themselves, so doesn’t have to take on the entire burden of the offense as he did for most of last season.

Cunningham has a feel for when he needs to take over, and I do agree that he should do it more often, but that doesn’t mean he’s being too passive, he’s just an unselfish player whose ability to run the offense and set up teammates is just as important as his scoring.

I think we would have seen a 30+ point performance last night had Cade not gotten into foul trouble early, and this narrative probably would have died a quick death. We all want to see Cade dominate (and he will) but right now he’s feeling things out and learning how to play with his new teammates, so it is going to take time.

I would like to see him shooting at least 20 shots per game though and I do think Cade will start looking for his own shot more as the season goes on.