The Pistons got the crushing news on Thursday morning that Cade Cunningham has suffered a collapsed lung and will miss extended time. There’s plenty of justified worry that this injury will impact Cade’s chances at playing in this year’s postseason, but CJ McCollum’s previous bouts with the same injury can offer some positive insight.
Just in: Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham has been diagnosed with a collapsed lung and is expected to miss an extended period of time, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/JIHABIIOY5
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 19, 2026
CJ McCollum has gone through the same injury twice
McCollum, now with the Hawks in his 13th season, has suffered a pneumothorax (collapsed lung) on two separate occasions - once in 2021 and once in 2023. The injury kept him sidelined for 6 weeks and 3 weeks, respectively, during his two bouts.
Another positive of McCollum’s injury absences is that he was able to retain his high level of play afterwards. In fact, he was traded two months after suffering the injury for the first time. In his 26 games with the Pelicans after that trade, he averaged 24 points per game - that would be a career-high for a full season. Hopefully, Cade can similarly come back as the same or even better player after his injury.
The Pistons need to hold on until Cade returns
Assuming the worst case scenario and giving Cade 6 weeks to recover from his first instance of this injury, he could be ready to return as the first round of the playoffs wrap up. The Pistons may be hard-pressed to win even a single series without him, since they lack any other reliable perimeter creators, but it still offers a possible route to a deep playoff run.
If Cade can get healthy even quicker than that, he could contribute in the first round or even return before the regular season ends. Ideally, he would be able to ramp back up into basketball shape with some lighter workload or less intense games, but that’ll be hard to find in the playoffs.
In the meantime, the Pistons will be heavily reliant on fellow All-Star Jalen Duren as a focal point of the offense. He will need to uplift the offense not only with his own scoring, but also making plays and opening lanes for his teammates. Without Cade, every healthy Piston needs to be at his best but especially Duren.
Duren flashed his potential as the lone star in the Pistons’ most recent win, racking up a career-high 36 points along with 12 rebounds against the Wizards. Detroit will need similar performances from him the rest of this season for the offense to stay afloat.
Cade’s injury news isn’t what the Pistons wanted to hear at all, but there’s still a faint pathway to playoff contention. It’ll take good recovery progress on his part, and the rest of the team must embrace the “next man up” mentality to the fullest.