Pistons fans have had a rough summer, between Jalen Duren's constant haggling over his contract extension and their team's inactivity when it comes to acquiring a second option. But the one constant bright spot is always Cade Cunningham, and he's looking to get even better for next season.
Cunningham had practically a flawless regular season last year, finishing as an All-NBA First Team selection and 5th in MVP voting. However, he ran into some of his usual problems in the playoffs, namely issues with turnovers down the stretch of some big games. Hopefully, some offensive growth from his teammates can help but Cade is also taking it upon himself to improve his conditioning in the meantime.
Cade is focused on his endurance this offseason
In a recent profile, Cade detailed how much of his offseason work has been focused on building up better endurance and core stability (subscription needed). He's also doing this training in the high elevation of the Colorado mountains, which could have a supercompensation effect when he returns to the normal altitude of Detroit. Perhaps most importantly, Cade also hopes that the training will give him more mental toughness and endurance, which should pay off at the end of intense games.
Last season, Cade carried the Pistons in the playoffs with monstrous scoring outputs while his teammates struggled. That heavy workload eventually caught up to him, as he had some bad lapses in the fourth quarter of close games against both the Magic and Cavaliers. Cade's worst game of the postseason was also the Pistons' last one, as he struggled while the Pistons got blown out in Game 7 by the Cavs.
The huge burden on Cade in that playoff run forced the Pistons to re-evaluate the roster this offseason and formulate a plan for getting more offensive help. Unfortunately, none of those plans have come to fruition just yet but Cade is doing his part to get better in the same scenarios where he previously struggled. If his mental processing and physical exertion can hold up better throughout tight games, the Pistons should improve in the clutch and be better poised for a deep playoff run.
The playoffs taught Cade a lot
We have to keep in mind that last season was Cade's first deeper playoff run, and just his second one overall. He was also ramping back up from a collapsed lung and fractured ribs as the playoffs started. All of that would generally contribute towards poor performance on his part with opposing defenses locked in to stop him, but Cade still overcame the odds.
He has even more room to grow, simply from being healthier and more experienced. The fact that he's going above and beyond to address his shortcomings, even while being one of the most complete players in the world already, speaks volumes to Cade's work ethic. His continued drive and development should have Pistons fans fired up to see him take the court in year 6.
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