Cade Cunningham will miss the rest of the season for the Detroit Pistons after playing in just 12 games.
It was pretty much the nightmare scenario for Detroit coming into this season, as Cunningham is their franchise player, the guy who makes the offense go and it’s tough to know what the rest of the team really looks like without him in there.
The Pistons were counting on Cade Cunningham to make a leap in year two, and it appeared he was on his way to doing so, as he was averaging just under 20 points per game and adding over six assists and six rebounds to go along with it.
He was still having some problems with shooting efficiency but had really started to come on from the mid-range, and when that shot is falling, he is a weapon on the offensive end, as he is a gifted passer who can find open teammates when the defense collapses around him.
His grade for this season has to be an incomplete, but Cade has flashed star potential, which is what makes ranking him so difficult.
Recently, The Ringer ranked their top 100 players in the NBA and it’s hard to say if their ranking for Cunningham is just right considering his injury, or whether he should have been much higher.
Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham’s ranking in the top-100
Cade Cunningham came in at 60th on the list of the top-100 players and his teammate Bojan Bogdanovic wasn’t far behind him, ranking 71st.
These types of lists are fairly pointless to be honest, as little separates the guys in the middle, so you could certainly make an argument that Cade should be ahead of several players including:
- Anfernee Simons (59)
- Marcus Smart (57)
- Deandre Ayton (56)
- Tyrese Maxey (54)
- Jalen Brunson (51)
- LaMelo Ball (48)
- Jamal Murray (47)
- Jerami Grant (45)
- Brook Lopez (42)
- Andrew Wiggins (39)
Cade’s all-around game gives him a case against any of these guys, and there isn’t anyone on this list that I would trade Cunningham for straight up.
But none of this really matters while he is sitting on the sidelines in street clothes, so fans of Cunningham can’t get too mad until he gets back on the court and starts proving himself to be one of the top 20-30 players in the NBA.
Hopefully that will happen next season, but until then Cade is in limbo and that is reflected in the rankings.