Detroit Pistons: What’s the ceiling for the Cunningham and Ivey pairing?

When the Detroit Pistons’ name was called at the 5th spot during the NBA draft lottery, fans hearts collectively sank all over the city. Pairing Victor Wembanyama with Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey would have been franchise altering.

Now reality has officially set in. The Pistons dropped in the lottery for the 7th time and became the first team to fall to five with the best overall odds.

Despite your thoughts on the new flattened lottery, the Pistons were not on luck’s good side and it’s time to pump the brakes on expectations…again.

But what if I told you things are still going according to plan?

Now don’t get me wrong, Wembanyama would have super charged any rebuild in Detroit.

When Troy Weaver and ownership decided to tear it all down a couple seasons ago, we knew we had some losing seasons ahead of us.

Hoping for two number one picks in three years was never realistic, especially in the day and age where 14 percent is the highest chance you’ll ever have.

Being left looking around with the 5th pick in your hands is not a good place to be, but Pistons fans need to remember what is already in the bank.

The Pistons possess a young core of Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and Jalen Duren – all of whom are under 21-years-old. You could even throw in Isaiah Stewart, who’s only 22-years-old.

But for today, I’m choosing to focus solely on the backcourt combination of Cade and Ivey.

I know it sounds very “NBA Twitter” of me, but I’m afraid that people have forgotten about Cade Cunningham.

It’s pretty easy to understand why. Cade only played in 12 games last season before being shut down for the year for a shin surgery.

As a number one pick himself, Cade possesses much of the same franchise-altering DNA that Wembanyama has.

In those 12 games this season, Cade averaged 19.9 points, 6.0 assists, and 6.2 rebounds per game. Great numbers, if it weren’t for his poor shooting splits. As we know with any young player, shooting will come, especially for someone with the offensive skills that Cade has.

Now I don’t need to remind people of the scouting report on Cade coming out of college, but I feel like many have forgotten that Cade has always been a player you can build an entire offense around.

He has an advanced skill-set well beyond his years, can run the pick-and-roll to perfection already, and has shown the willingness to spread the ball around. If anything, some might wish he would be a little more selfish.

In his small sample size last season, Cade had a usage rate of 30.1, on par with someone like Luka Doncic in his first few seasons.

That is Cade’s game, and if he continues at this rate, the league will begin to take notice next season.

Detroit Pistons: What’s the ceiling for Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey?

Now here’s the biggest key in Detroit. We know what Cade Cunningham can be, but the Jaden Ivey pick really pops then there could be some real potential for the Pistons.

In 74 games last season, Ivey averaged 16.3 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game on 41 percent shooting and 34 percent from three. The best thing here is Ivey continued to improve throughout the whole season, coming on the strongest to close the year.

Jaden Ivey uses speed to get downhill and most importantly get the lane. He ranked in the top of the league in transition possessions and shots at the rim.

This lightning approach would pair amazingly with Cade’s more methodical game, at least in theory.

Unfortunately, we only got to see it for 11 games, but if you look at the numbers Ivey put up almost identical numbers with Cade as he did without, showing that his increased opportunity isn’t the only reason for solid rookie year numbers.

So what’s the ceiling for this backcourt pairing?

The ceiling is as high as they want it to be, the opportunity is right there.

Offensively, the players are the perfect combination of yin and yang. Cade dominating pace with his methodical half court offense and Ivey coming back with quick jolts of athleticism.

However, the real potential will be unlocked on the defensive end. Cade has shown a willingness to get his hands dirty on that end and Ivey has the athleticism to succeed with some real defensive effort.

Ivey was playing great defensively until Cade got hurt and the tank was fully on. We will see much better effort from him next season.

As this backcourt goes, so will the Detroit Pistons. If both end up as All-Stars, potential All-NBA players, then the Pistons will be contending by the time both guys are 25.

If the development takes a little longer or we realize that one (or both) are not that guy, then the Pistons are in some real trouble.

Even with Wembanyama, the rebuild would still have risen or fallen with Cade. It might have been pushed forward a couple years, but things are still going according to schedule right now.

It still falls on the shoulders of Cade and Ivey, the next great Detroit Pistons backcourt.