The one flaw we’ve consistently talked about in Cade Cunningham’s game is his propensity for turnovers, and he’s been flat-out bad to start the season, there’s no way around it.
Part of this is the increased attention any superstar is going to get, but there are also troubling signs that the opposition has figured out how to most effectively slow Cade down and that he currently doesn’t have the teammates to bail him out.
The Pistons are clearly missing Jaden Ivey, Caris LeVert and Marcus Sasser, as they don’t have a second guy to bring the ball up when Cade is getting trapped. Ausar Thompson has done well at times, but he’s far better with the ball when he catches it on the move than trying to start an offense himself.
Zach Lowe mentioned Cade’s turnover issues on a recent episode of his podcast, saying that Cade is averaging about 9,000 turnovers a game and needs to clean it up, something all Pistons fans know.
Hyperbole aside, Cade is currently averaging 5.7 turnovers per contest after adding another five to his tally last night, which is second in the NBA behind second-year guard Stephon Castle.
It’s a problem the Pistons and Cade Cunningham have to solve, as teams are going to keep up the pressure until they find a way to break it.
Cade Cunningham is being defended everywhere he goes
Teams have figured out that they can get a turnover or two out of Cade Cunningham just by pressing him full court, which they have been doing relentlessly so far. Cunningham has not been good at handling this pressure, often dribbles into traps and gives up a couple of sloppy turnovers every game before even getting it across half court.
Most teams don’t press in the NBA, as teams are too good at breaking it and getting easy buckets, but the Pistons haven’t been able to take advantage so far, mostly because they don’t have another reliable ball handler on the floor most of the time.
They have clearly missed some of the guys who are hurt, but also veteran Dennis Schroder, who was a security blanket of sorts for the Pistons last year, who took care of the ball and occasionally allowed Cunningham to play off it.
At times Cade has looked miserable out there against all of this pressure and double teaming, but he has to think and react more quickly than he has been, as he’s been a step slow recognizing and dealing with the pressure.
He has to either get rid of the ball faster when he sees pressure coming or move faster with the ball to beat it, as his method of turning his back to defenders and backing into them to protect the ball has not been working.
This is an issue Cade has had for his whole career and has only been worse this season with intensified focus on him, but he and JB Bickerstaff have to figure this out, as the Pistons are currently 24th in the NBA in turnovers per game and a third of them are coming from Cunningham.