Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham is the foundation
Let us not forget, we just had the #1 overall pick; and we had it at a damned good time. LeBron James or Victor Wembanyama good? No. But remember that James, whose career is winding down, while absolutely glorious, still left 15 championships on the table so far. Even He, arguably the greatest to ever play the game, has only won 4 championships in 19 attempts. Hall-of-Fame, storybook stuff and yet it still left plenty of celebrating for the rest of the league. Wembanyama, is going to be a problem, and he’s not going to carry us to another championship of our own, but he’s not about to have a Bill Russell-like death grip on the Larry O’Brien trophy, either.
While a new chapter in Pistons history is just beginning, there is one closing in the Book of the NBA. Superstars like James, Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard, and Kevin Durant are about to relinquish their own chokeholds on the league, no longer serving as gate-keepers, while a new generation emerges. The likes of Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are set to take over, and while I’ll no doubt be called a homer by some, everything I’ve seen from our own #1 pick – Cade Cunningham, leads me to believe that he will soon belong in that echelon of excellence, and hopefully someday – greatness.
Cunningham’s season-ending surgery was disheartening, but not particularly devastating. Good came of it. We do have a pretty good asset in that #5 pick, whether we use it or trade it, and Jaden Ivey got to stretch himself more as a rookie without having to defer as much as he otherwise would have.