There's no doubt that the lack of splashes from the Detroit Pistons this offseason falls on the shoulders of Trajan Langdon.
After an impressive season in the Motor City, clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference and getting over the first-round curse in the playoffs, Detroit showed plenty of promise before their playoff run fizzled out.
One thing the team's postseason stretch showed is that superstar Cade Cunningham desperately needed him if the team ever hopes to get over the hump and contend for a championship.
Obviously, all eyes immediately shift to Langdon and the team's front office to make these moves, especially on the trade market, but with free agency as a tool, the blame can't solely be placed on the front office.
Up to this point, the Pistons' lone addition in free agency has been John Collins, who, while he's a very serviceable player, isn't the needle mover that will get the team over the hump.
And while nobody wants to say it out loud, Cunningham deserves some share of blame for the underwhelming offseason, solely because of the lack of recruiting on his end.
Cade Cunningham hasn't made any recruiting pitches to help the Pistons
Free agency isn't as lucrative as it once was, but there's still plenty of talent to be signed on the open market.
Names like LeBron James, Jonathan Kuminga, and even DeMar DeRozan are targets that remain on the board that would immediately help the Pistons.
Up to this point, the only player we've even remotely heard a link to the Pistons with is DeRozan, and that was only considered a possibility of kicking the tires.
Obviously, Cunningham can't do the front offices' job for them, and nobody expects him to, but when players around the league are openly making pitches for top names to join their roster, it only creates the question of why the star guard isn't joining in on the fun.
Tyrese Haliburton openly admitted that LeBron James laughed in his face at the idea of joining the Indiana Pacers, but hey, at least he tried.
Draymond Green made it a point to address the idea of James joining the Golden State Warriors, as did Stephen Curry, and while the circumstances are clearly different, they're continuing the tradition of helping their team land talent.
New Heat member Giannis Antetokounmpo has joined the recruitment chain of James.
And even Anthony Edwards made it a point to state his case for James to join the Minnesota Timberwolves during Fanatics Fest.
Perhaps Cunningham has done his fair share of recruiting behind the scenes, but there's no certainty that's the case, and with the lack of additions this offseason, it feels like it isn't the case.
Obviously, James being the most noteworthy domino to fall is why he's the example of players' recruitments, but there's still plenty of talent who's already been signed and still available that Cunningham could help his team pursue (if they wanted).
Given that player recruitment used to be an impactful strategy in free agency, it's worth noting that we haven't seen any pitches up to this point.
Of course, there's a fine line between overstepping and helping, but it feels like Cunningham is the type of caliber star who's recruitment could be a big help to land talent.
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