Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons have gotten off to a slow start, winning just one game out of their first five.
This wasn’t completely unexpected, and not to be the bearer of bad news, but it will probably get worse before it gets better, as their schedule hasn’t even gotten tough yet.
Cade Cunningham has yet to really get into a groove, though he did start getting hot last night, scoring 22 points in the first half, but only finishing with 26 after fizzling out in the second.
The Pistons have yet to have their full complement of players, and it has shown on the bench, which has been abysmal this season and is one of the big reasons for all of the losing. This may motivate coach Dwane Casey to shake up the rotation, and there is one move that he may need to make sooner rather than later.
Both the numbers and the eye test tell us that Cade needs to be playing more minutes with rookie Jalen Duren, as the Detroit Pistons have been a better team when the two of them are on the floor together.
Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren on defense
Jalen Duren has been one of the best rookies in the NBA so far in the young season, averaging eight points and eight rebounds while only playing 21 minutes per game.
He’s also blocked 1.2 shots per game in that time, and has been the Pistons’ best rim protector by far.
Cade and Duren have only played 41 minutes together this season, but have a 105.6 defensive rating when they are both on the floor, which is outstanding.
Cade has played 133 minutes with Isaiah Stewart and logged a 120.1 defensive rating, which is one of the reasons the Pistons have been among the worst defensive teams in the NBA this season.
It is still early, but Duren is the only player that Cade has a positive net rating with as a duo and the Pistons have been very good defensively when they are on the floor together. For a team that wants to build around its defense, they should start by playing their best defensive duo together more than just a few minutes per game.