7:09pm: The Pistons have officially drafted Cunningham.
12:42pm: The Pistons have decided to select Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham with the top pick in tonight’s draft, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
That was the expected outcome ever since Detroit won the draft lottery, but apparently the final decision wasn’t made until Thursday morning. Team officials traveled to New York on Wednesday to meet with Cunningham one more time, then finalized the decision to draft him during meetings earlier today, Wojnarowski reports in another tweet.
In a press conference earlier this week, Detroit general manager Troy Weaver said the team hadn’t made a final decision on whether the team would choose Cunningham, with Jalen Green also still in the mix and trade offers coming in.
It’s still not out of the question that the Pistons could trade the pick if they get an offer that’s too good to refuse, but otherwise Cunningham will be in a Detroit uniform next season, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Cunningham has been the consensus top pick for months among draft experts and the Pistons continued to field trade inquiries leading up to the draft. He’ll immediately become the face of a franchise that went into rebuild mode prior to the 2020 trade deadline, a process that accelerated when Weaver remade the roster after becoming the top executive in the franchise’s front office.
Given his status as the likely top pick, Cunningham only visited the Pistons prior to the draft. Cunningham attended a Tigers game, met with the team’s brass, and did a light workout early last week. He came away impressed by the team’s front office and coaching staff, as well as the city.
“The organization has a lot of great people within it,” Cunningham said last week. “I mean, starting from the owners, Troy Weaver is a great GM, and then, you know, all the way down. They got just great people throughout. So I learned a lot on my visit. If they take me, I’ll definitely be excited to be there.”
Didn’t see that one coming.
I’m also not a big fan of the picks being revealed before the actual draft, it ruins the suspense.
I think they stopped that a year or two ago. I think now we are notified by the guy at the podium rather than a tweet one minute prior.
no woj leaks the picks but he says it is “widely believed” or “from speculation” cus he can’t say they will
I doubt this is a surprise to any one who has followed the off-season.
I don’t mind the #1 pick being ruined since Detroit has technically been on the clock ever since the lottery drawing. But I do not like it when tweeters ruin it during the draft. I mean it’s not like I can’t wait 5 minutes for information.
It’s funny because it could set off a domino effect where all the teams reveal their picks….but any team could lie too. I like how only the #1 is allowed to say beforehand, it’s usually obvious and I never once believed Detroit would take anyone else. It was always been Cade, then the other 2-4, then the next 5-12 all grouped together. Cade’s not massively superior to 2-4 guys, but he’s the one you gotta pick out of those 5, every time.
I expect 5-12 to not land anything like anyone is predicting. This draft tonight will be more entertaining than any Lebron-era Lakers game.
So you like being manipulated? There is no reason for a #1 to have to wait. I doubt tv viewership is bolstered by top-pick suspense. Maybe in the first minute.
The Cavs should have named Irving as soon as they decided in 2011… Irving sat there in a hood as I recall, probably already wondering how to get out.
Settle down, Stevie Wonder
Cavs still don’t know what to do
Cade is Tatum
Green is Beal
I don’t like the idea for Thunder to trade into 1 or 2 because it wastes the time
I don’t like the idea for any team to get 2 top 5 picks either
I think we trade up, but to Cleveland or Toronto. Whichever one takes our best offer first. Cleveland being the priority.
If not, they’ll take Bouknight and trade 16 and 18 to get somewhere around 11…..no idea who they’re eyeing there. Maybe Duarte?
Shocker
2021 Cade Cunningham = 1993 Grant Hill
Not sure I agree with that assessment! But if I had the one pick I would be taking Suggs all day! I think he will show to be the crown jewel of this draft class.
I’ve heard numerous experts compare Cade to Hill. Yes please.
I will definitely agree with this.
Bergman always reveals the pick at the nfl draft before it gets announced. It ruins the fun. However there is so much speculation perhaps this is a smoke screen by weaver to drive up the value of the pick.
How does this drive up the value?
Not saying I agree that it’s a smokescreen — seems like it’d be a poor reflection on organizational culture to make a commitment to a player and go back on it in the same day — but theoretically, it would show suitors that the Pistons aren’t bluffing about wanting to keep the pick and draft Cade, which means it’d take a very big offer to pry it away. And if anyone does want it badly enough to make that very big offer, they have a few hours to work it out before the draft. (Theoretically.)
I think you mean Chris Berman and I totally agree. He would completely ruin the draft by hinting at the pick just prior to the podium announcement. I always found him tedious to begin with but that made me hate him.
This means it will officially become “GreenWood Porter” time for me!
What if your SN is cursed? Also GreenPorterWood sounds funier.
Porter GreenWood
I’d hold off on the Porter endorsement. Let him put in a full season of work first before you hang your hat on his post.
Don’t discount Wall, he is still the best player on the team.
Alt: Jalen Christian Jr. ?
I need that laughing face emoji button like right meow
Wood is a cancer. You’ve been dead for the longest with every name switch. Just make it Chemo lol
I was hoping they picked the Gonzaga water cooler just like when they picked Darko
There is not one team in the league that would not have selected Darko #2 that year. I don’t care what anyone says NOW, no one said it then. Darko was the universally accepted #2 selection behind LeBron. And most people said in just about any other year he would have been #1.
True. In many ways, the selection was made for them by consensus. Same with Oden and Durant. Sometimes there’s a tier of more than a single player, but sometimes not.
DET’s only real option (if the FO wanted to stay employed) would have been to trade down. That’s merely risky from a basketball standpoint. Bucking a strong tier consensus is career suicide.
Agreed. Pistons roster was loaded and to add a young, left handed power forward seemed like a great move at the time.
I hate the NBA draft being spoiled before hand. Guess I gotta stay off of here as well as twitter today.
I don’t think you have to worry about that anymore. Just don’t look at Twitter perhaps but you should be safe on this website. It’s fun to come here for scoops and ideas but I don’t think they’ll announce the actual lock pick 30 seconds before Adam Silver does.
I guarantee if the #2 pick leaks between now and the draft it’ll be posted here. They don’t want to “miss” the news.
And I mean, can we blame a site that is literally called “Hoops Rumors” for posting, you know, hoops rumors?
So Wiseman, Wiggins, the 7 and 14 are going to Detroit for Cade, Grant and Plumlee? Excellent.
*barf emoji*
Because of the way NBA teams trade picks (after selection for the most part) this statement really means nothing. If a trade is agreed to, they would have selected him all the same.
I don’t remember the Wiggins getting drafted 5 hours before the draft
Excuse the auto-sentencing jeez, you know what I mean
Nor was CC drafted. DET just declared that they are selecting him (haven’t done it yet), and, as I said, they didn’t say they wouldn’t select him and then trade his rights to HOU for the rights to Green and other assets.
FWIW, the NFL used to permit the team with the top pick to sign their choice before the draft. And if they did, then the team with the second choice could sign its choice.
I don’t think he is the best NBA player in this draft.
I don’t either.
Shocking revelation. Mock drafts everywhere are being re… oh wait, nvm
Wtf. Not like this is a surprise, but social media has been around for years, and suddenly now it’s a trend to tweet out draft results before they happen. I guess if you don’t report it someone else will, but maybe it also means these FO folks should stop running their lips.
Cade Plays 5×5 basketball not just pick n’ roll game … F U Weaver go back to ur data labs you are an imbecile
The sky is also blue.
No ………..
They should draft sum1 else just as a goof thatd be badass lol
I’m gonna pick…my nose. With my number 1 finger. Lol
Can’t believe people complain about getting information.
There is no reason for Weaver to wait, or ABC, and solid reasons to say.
One, it’s a privilege for Weaver.
Two, the player may not appreciate the stress.
Three, it’s better than a dog-and-pony show.