The Detroit Pistons haven’t seen one of their players make an All-Star team since Blake Griffin did it during the 2018-19 season. While Griffin won’t be remembered for his time with the Pistons so much as the many years he spent as a part of the Los Angeles Clippers, the ’18-19 season was a great one for the former #1 overall pick. In many ways, it may have been the best season of his career. The athleticism that had carried him in seasons prior had long been fading and he had to morph into a point forward for a Pistons team that struggled to get quality shots up. Griffin not only facilitated the offense at times but added new dimensions to his game, like a 3-point shot. His All-Star selection was well-deserved.
Prior to Griffin’s fantastic campaign, Andre Drummond managed to earn a couple of well-deserved trips to the All-Star game. Before Drummond we must go way back to Allen Iverson, whose selection had far more to do with his Hall-of-Fame career than it did his accomplishments with the Pistons that season. In summation, we’re looking at four All-Star nods in the post-Goin’ to Work Era. That’s four All-Stars in fourteen years. Who will be next to represent the D?
Detroit Pistons: Signs of sophomore breakout derailed by injury
Cade Cunningham had a disappointing sophomore season that only included 12 games, but even in that short span we saw signs of things to some. It was clear that he, Dwane Casey and the rest of the team were working to figure out how they all fit together. Two new lottery picks including one who could do great things with the ball in his hands left Cunningham playing off the ball much more than he did in his rookie season, particularly the second half of it.
Despite such a significant change in the composition of the team, all of Cade’s numbers were ticking up. He was scoring 19.9 points per game instead of 17.4. He was was hauling in six rebounds and dishing out six assists, up from 5.5 rpg and 5.5 apg. He was struggling to find his shot from long range, stroking it at just a 27.9 percent clip. But that shot is coming, and the mid-range is already there, so whether it comes sooner or later, the #1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft is about to take the next step in a spectacular journey.
Cade Cunningham will be an All-Star next season
Cunningham was MVP of the Rising Stars game in 2022 and although he’ll be rehabbing his way through All-Star weekend in 2023, he will make the first of many NBA All-Star Game appearances come 2024.
Cunningham had been playing on an injured shin since high school and will hopefully be fully healthy for the first time since then when next season starts. His physical improvement along with (hopefully) a better supporting cast, should make for another leap in stats. If that happens, there is a very good chance that his popularity in Detroit will gain him entry to the game via the fan vote, so next season could very well end the Detroit Pistons’ All-Star drought.