When the Detroit Pistons drafted Cade Cunningham with the #1 pick back in 2021, fans hoped he would be the savior of the franchise.
To put it nicely, that hasn’t happened.
The Pistons have failed to build a coherent roster around their best player, ignoring shooting and fit, which has led to some of the worst teams in Pistons’ history.
Cunningham isn’t blameless, as he has missed a ton of games, has only played in two out of three seasons and hasn’t been able to single-handedly make the team relevant. But more of this is on the team, which Cunningham showed last season, putting up All-Star-esque numbers on the worst team in franchise history, a team with no shooting or defense, which left all eyes on Cade.
If you actually watched the games last season, the numbers Cunningham put up were admirable given the context, and there is every hope that with a better cast, he will evolve into an All-Star and soon.
NBA guru Zach Lowe hasn’t given up hope and said he is still all-in on the Cade Cunningham bandwagon on a recent episode of the Lowe Post. He said he thinks the Pistons’ young star will make his first All-Star appearance this season and set the over/under for All-Star games at 2.5 for Cade in his career, a number Lowe thinks Cunningham will exceed.
I agree, as Cunningham is on the precipice of being there already and should make that leap this season if he plays enough games.
Paolo Banchero, Cade Cunningham and the All-Star game
Making an All-Star team has as much to do with team success as it does individual.
Take last season for example: Paolo Banchero made the All-Star team with arguably worse numbers than Cunningham.
Banchero’s team was competitive and made the playoffs, while Cade’s team was abysmal and did not. If the fortunes of the teams had been reversed, it would have been Cunningham in the All-Star game, as their stats were practically identical.
Cunningham was putting up numbers despite his awful team while Banchero was putting up numbers partially because he was on a better one. If the Pistons challenge for anything next season, Cunningham will make the All-Star game, and once he does, it will be hard to keep him off if he keeps putting up big all-around numbers and the team continues to improve, similar to Tyrese Haliburton in Indiana, who has made it two years in a row.
Of course, the opposite is also true, as Cunningham will take most of the blame if the team is terrible again and the perception might sour around him.
But I’d take the over, as Cunningham has shown enough to think he can get there if the team improves, unfortunately for the Pistons, that is a mighty big “IF.”