Cade Cunningham Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pistons Notes: Cunningham, FA Targets, Losing Streak, Fixes

December 27th, 2023 at 4:28pm CST by Rory Maher

Clearly, not many things have been going well for the Pistons, who just broke the single-season NBA record on Tuesday with their 27th consecutive loss. If they lose again on Thursday in Boston, they’ll tie the all-time losing streak across multiple seasons, set by the Sixers in 2014/15 and ’15/16.

Despite their struggles, former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham has been a bright spot for the Pistons of late, per Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. After an up-and-down first 19 games, Cunningham is averaging 24.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.3 steals on .500/.309/.847 shooting in 11 games this month, including two 40-point outbursts over his past four contests. He has also significantly cut down on his turnovers, going from a league-high 4.9 per game over his first 19 games to 2.9 per night this month.

As Sankofa writes, Cunningham did everything in his power to keep Detroit in the game on Tuesday, shooting 13-of-16 from the field (81.3%) and scoring 37 points in the second half, including the team’s final 12. The rest of the Pistons were a combined 7-of-26 (26.9%) in the second half, Sankofa notes.

“Everyday, I try to lead the squad,” Cunningham said. “I haven’t been successful with that. Two-and-28. I just felt like it’s only right that I come up and can speak for it, be the face for it. That locker room and everybody in there cares a lot. Everybody’s trying to do everything they can to win games and be successful. I put a lot of that weight on myself, for sure.”

Here’s more from Detroit:

On FanDuel TV’s Run It Back show (Twitter video link), Shams Charania of The Athletic said the Pistons are likely to target a power forward in free agency in 2024, with Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Tobias Harris and Miles Bridges among the names worth monitoring.
The Pistons have won three championships and have made the NBA Finals five times. But over the past 15 years, they’ve been “meh-to-bad,” with the current group on pace to be the worst team ever, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, who takes an in-depth look at the sequence of events that has led Detroit to its historic ineptitude.
While there are no “quick fixes” for a team that’s 2-28, Keith Smith of Spotrac describes how he would go about changing the direction of the franchise, including trading away veterans for draft assets.

Cade: Pistons’ Record-Setting Futility “Weighs On Us Every Day”

December 26th, 2023 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons established a new NBA record on Tuesday night, as the Nets defeated them 118-112. It was Detroit’s 27th loss in a row, the most consecutive losses by any team in a single season in league history.

Cade Cunningham scored 37 second-half points and 41 in all but it still wasn’t enough for the Pistons, who haven’t tasted victory since Oct. 28.

“It weighs on us every day,” he said during the postgame press conference relayed by Bally Sports Detroit (video link).

Coach Monty Williams said the burden of the losing streak has been tough to shoulder.

“It’s been heavy for a while,” he said (BSD video link).

The Pistons tied the record in a 126-115 loss at Brooklyn on Saturday. Their 27-game losing streak surpasses the futility of the 2010/11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013/14 Philadelphia 76ers, who each lost 26 straight.

Philadelphia dropped 28 straight across parts of two seasons, at the end of 2014/15 and the beginning of the ’15/16 campaign. The Pistons could tie that record when they visit Boston on Thursday.

The Pistons were outscored by 13 points in the second quarter on Tuesday.

“That’s something that’s plagued us all year long, just having that segment of the game or one quarter that kind of put us in the hole and we just haven’t been able to do enough to overcome,” said Williams, who was signed to a six-year contract by owner Tom Gores during the offseason to bring the franchise back to prominence.

Detroit actually had a five-point lead in the fourth but then gave up 13 unanswered points and couldn’t overcome the deficit.

“We need to continue to lean on each other, and continue to push each other and hold each other accountable more than ever now,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension next offseason, exerted his leadership after the game.

“He showed me even more in the locker room just now,” Williams said. “He talked passionately about the things we need to do and how everybody has to be in the boat and be accountable for where we are. You have to be real about where we are. Nobody wants something like this attached to them. The bottom line is it’s my job, it’s my responsibility. Coaches are graded on their record. That’s the bottom line.”

Gores promised “changes” last week but it remains to be seen what alterations will be made.

Pistons Notes: Losing Streak, Trade Market, Weaver, Harris

December 24th, 2023 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The Pistons keep making the wrong kind of history as their losing streak has now reached record territory, writes Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press. Detroit dropped its 26th consecutive game Saturday night in Brooklyn, moving into a tie with the 2010/11 Cavaliers and 2013/14 Sixers for the longest single-season slide in NBA history.

There are no obvious win opportunities on the horizon as the team prepares for a rematch with the Nets on Tuesday, followed by a trip to Boston on Thursday. Two more losses would tie the Pistons with Philadelphia for the league’s longest losing streak of any kind, which was set during the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons.

“Everybody wants to win, everybody hates losing, so it’s hard,” Cade Cunningham said. “We’ve got to be realistic as well. Can’t just keep saying the same things over and over, like we’ll get the next one. There has to be like a plan of action, so we’re just trying to figure that out.”

Detroit stayed close for much of Saturday’s game, trailing by just two points midway through the third quarter before Brooklyn pulled away. Mahoney notes that familiar mistakes were a problem again for a team that commits the most fouls per game at 22.8 and ranks 29th in turnovers at 16.6 per night.

“We had a lot of tough breaks this year, but I try not to look at life that way. It just happens,” coach Monty Williams said. “When you turn it over 14 times you don’t expect 22 points, but it happens. Those live turnovers, they’re basketball death for possessions and we’ve had a lot of those this year.”

There’s more on the Pistons:

Detroit needs to be active on the trade market, not only to stop the losing streak but to get the franchise moving in the right direction, contends James L. Edwards of The Athletic. Owner Tom Gores vowed this week that changes are coming, and Edwards believes the current team relies too heavily on young players without enough veterans to teach them how to succeed.
Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press offers similar advice, stating that general manager Troy Weaver has placed too much emphasis on preserving cap space and not enough on acquiring talent. Sankofa hears that the front office is prioritizing veterans in trade talks and is hoping to “address glaring areas of need.” Those are numerous, he adds, as the current roster doesn’t have enough shooting, depth or defensive prowess. Sources tell Sankofa that ownership doesn’t plan an immediate move involving Weaver or anyone on the coaching staff, with the trade market being viewed as the best source of help.
Saturday marked an emotional return to Brooklyn for Joe Harris, who was traded to Detroit this summer after spending seven seasons with the Nets, per Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post. “[Brooklyn] means everything,” Harris said. “This is literally where I developed into an NBA player — here. If it wasn’t for my stop in Brooklyn, I’m not sure I’d be in a similar spot. You like to think that you would, but there’s a lot of dots that gotta be connected.”

Pistons’ Cunningham: No Way Are We “2-26 Bad”

December 21st, 2023 at 9:44pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Pistons are one loss away from tying the all-time single-season record for most losses in a row after dropping their 25th straight to the depleted Jazz on Thursday night.

Playing without Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George, Jordan Clarkson, Talen Horton-Tucker and Omer Yurtseven, the Jazz defeated the Pistons 119-111, as Detroit’s woes off the bench and from beyond the arc continued. Still, Cade Cunningham believes the Pistons can turn it around with this group.

“We’re not 2-26 bad,” Cunningham said (Twitter link via The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III. “No way are we that bad. So, yes, I think we can turn it around. I think we can play a much better brand of basketball — executing game plan, not turning it over, keeping your man in front of you. I was the head of that snake. This isn’t about the system. This is about the players and what we’re doing on the floor. Those three things aren’t about a system.”

As Spotrac’s Keith Smith observes (Twitter link), the Pistons are not only just one game from tying the single-season record of 26 straight losses, they’re also three losses from tying the all-time longest losing streak, a record the Sixers hold from when they lost 28 straight across the 2014/15 and ’15/16 seasons.

“It’s definitely on my mind,” Cunningham said of approaching the record (Twitter link via Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “That’s history that nobody wants to be a part of. We’re trying to build something that’s sustainable. It’s not like we’re just trying to win one game. We want to win multiple games.”

Things are at a breaking point in Detroit. As captured by NBA on ESPN (YouTube link), Pistons fans erupted in “sell the team” chants during the game.

To their credit, coach Monty Williams and Cunningham both have taken full responsibility. For a coach in his first year with a team and a young player in what’s essentially his second NBA season, it’s telling that neither have pointed blame elsewhere.

“I want to be careful with my words because this one hurts more than most of them,” Williams said (Twitter link via Sankofa). “A team that played last night gets 30 points off turnovers and rebounds. This one is unbelievably hard to understand how we can get outworked in those categories. That is absolutely on me.”

The Pistons next play the Nets in back-to-back games before facing the Celtics and the Raptors. They have four chances to avoid taking sole possession of the worst losing streak in NBA history.

“To be on the wrong side of history, nobody wants to be there,” Cunningham said (Twitter link via Sankofa). “That is definitely an extra edge that we have to have, and we should’ve won this game. We didn’t, so gotta come back next game and be locked in. I gotta come in and be locked in and more solid down the stretch.“

Pistons Notes: Williams, Cunningham, Wiseman, Gores, Rebuild

December 19th, 2023 at 7:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

When Monty Williams signed a six-year contract to coach the Pistons, he couldn’t have possibly known that a franchise seemingly ready to turn the corner would approach an NBA record for most consecutive losses. Williams admits that it’s the most difficult test in his coaching career.

“It’s tough to even put it into words. Even with this losing streak, I’m around town, taking my kids to games, I still get an unbelievably great deal of support,” Williams told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “And it means the world to me. But we’re not done. I know it seems bad right now, and it is. This thing will turn and I just have to have faith and belief. This is the toughest challenge I’ve had in my coaching career. But I felt that way when I got to Phoenix and that thing turned. This one has taken a bit longer, but we’ve had way more obstacles.”

We have more on the Pistons:

Despite the 24-game losing streak, franchise player Cade Cunningham has shown progress this season, James Edwards III of The Athletic writes. Cunningham, who can sign a rookie scale extension next offseason, racked up a career-high 43 points and added seven assists and five rebounds with only three turnovers in Detroit’s loss at Atlanta on Monday. Over his last 10 games, Cunningham is averaging 22.0 PPG and 7.0 APG on 49% shooting and has cut back on his turnovers. Williams has also been impressed with Cunningham’s leadership. “Watching his leadership during which will probably be the toughest time in his career, I couldn’t be more proud of how he’s talked to the group, had a great spirit every single day,” Williams said.
James Wiseman‘s minutes have increased due to frontcourt injuries and he’s taking advantage, averaging 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds in the last four games, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com notes. “It shows when you work and do the right things and you get the chance to play and you’re productive, you earn minutes,” Williams said. “There are times he looks like our best player on the floor on both ends and I’m happy for him.” Wiseman will be a restricted free agent after the season, if the Pistons extend a qualifying offer.
How much longer before owner Tom Gores declares the rebuild a failure and either pushes for a major trade or makes changes to the front office? Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press (subscription required) explores that topic.
The way this Pistons season has unfolded should be a cautionary tale to fans who are rooting for their teams to go into rebuild mode, John Hollinger of The Athletic opines. The crux of the problem, Hollinger notes, is that the Pistons have made eight first-round draft picks since their reset in 2019 and have yet to land a star. Even Cunningham might be better off as a complementary player rather than a No. 1 option, according to Hollinger.

Cunningham: “Nowhere To Hide” From Losing Streak

December 17th, 2023 at 9:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

There’s something worse than a 23-game losing streak, according to Cade Cunningham. He’d rather suffer through that ignominy than not play at all.

The Pistons are approaching the league’s all-time record for most consecutive losses in a single season. They’ve dropped a franchise-record 23 straight heading into their road game against the Hawks on Monday. The Cavaliers (2010-11) and Sixers (2013-14) each lost 26 in a row.

Detroit’s franchise player said it was even more miserable for him personally to sit in street clothes last season, he told Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press and other media members. Cunningham played just 12 games before undergoing shin surgery.

“Missing those games, I was in a way more dark spot than I am right now, playing and being able to do this,” he said. “I’m having a lot of fun. Losing the games is the worst thing ever, I hate it more than anything. But every day, in warmups, I’m like, ‘I’m blessed to do this. I have another opportunity to play and try to win.’ That’s where it comes from, is just being healthy and being able to play.”

The top overall pick in the 2021 draft is averaging 21.0 points and 7.0 assists per game, but he’s also third in the league in turnovers per night (4.0). He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension after this season.

It seems likely Cunningham will receive a max extension, despite the Pistons’ misery. The concern right now is avoiding make NBA history. They haven’t even been competitive in recent games, losing by 32 points three separate times in their last five games and by 18 in another.

The team came into the season expecting to show significant improvement. Instead, the rebuild seems to be a colossal failure.

“We all hate where it’s gotten,” Cunningham said. “We can’t believe that it’s gotten to this point. But it is what it is. We gotta fight through it. That’s one of the main things that I’ve been trying to challenge myself with, is fight through it every day, through bumps, bruises.”

Injuries have played a major role in the streak. The Pistons are currently without starting center Jalen Duren, while Bojan Bogdanovic is still working his way into a rhythm after missing the first 19 games of the season.

Cunningham doesn’t run away from his own responsibility for being unable to carry the team to a victory.

“For everybody, we just need all hands on board,” he said. “I’ve been trying to personally take that on and just weather the storm. It’s hard, but I don’t want to hide from it. There’s nowhere to hide.”

Central Notes: Bogdanovic, Cunningham, Dosunmu, LaVine, Caruso

December 4th, 2023 at 10:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bojan Bogdanovic is likely to soon regain his starting role with the Pistons, James Edwards III of The Athletic tweets. Bogdanovic, who could be a prime target at the trade deadline, made his season debut on Saturday after recovering from a calf strain and scored a team-high 22 points off the bench.

Pistons head coach Monty Williams said that when the team isn’t playing against two “bruisers” in the opposing lineup, it’s likely Bogdanovic will start at power forward when he gets in a rhythm. Against those bigger teams, Bogdanovic would start at small forward with Isaiah Stewart at power forward.

We have more from the Central Division:

Even in the midst of the Pistons’ franchise-record 17-game losing streak, Cade Cunningham is showing an improved 3-point stroke, according to Edwards. Cunningham has made 35% of his attempts, compared to 31.4% during his rookie season. He has also converted at least half of his 3-point tries in five of the last seven games. “It was more of a legs thing for me,” Cunningham said of his rookie struggles. “I was playing a lot of minutes, a lot of minutes that I had never played in an NBA season before and had to adjust to stepping back to the NBA 3-point line.”
With Zach LaVine sidelined due to a right foot ailment, Ayo Dosunmu has seen a minutes bump and he’s seized the opportunity, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago notes. The Bulls have won two straight with Dosunmu averaging 14.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 36.0 minutes per game while shooting 70.6%. “I think you can see a different player right now than maybe he was a year ago,” coach Billy Donovan said. Dosunmu re-signed with Chicago on a three-year, $21MM deal this offseason.
Speaking of LaVine, Donovan said on Monday the high-scoring wing “a lot better today than he was when he was first diagnosed.” LaVine is rehabbing and doing some individual on-court work. As for Alex Caruso, Donovan said “there’s nothing structurally wrong” with the left toe Caruso injured against New Orleans on Saturday, according to Johnson (Twitter links).

Pistons Notes: Weaver, Gores, Lineup Change, Bogdanovic

December 3rd, 2023 at 9:02am CST by Arthur Hill

The Pistons dropped their 17th straight game Saturday to fall to 2-18, but the organization is still emphasizing patience instead of panic, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. Sources tell Sankofa that ownership is unlikely to make major front office changes with so much of the season remaining, which means general manager Troy Weaver will have more time to fix the current mess.

Still, Sankofa cites concern throughout the franchise as no one expected this season to start so badly. Coming off the worst three-year stretch in team history, the Pistons thought they were ready to take a step toward contention. Instead, they have the worst record in the league and are just 4-41 since February 12.

Sankofa traces everything that has gone wrong in Detroit, including management’s decision to be conservative with its offseason cap space while counting on the development of young players to make the team better. The Pistons traded for Monte Morris, who was supposed to bring veteran leadership to the backcourt, but he hasn’t played yet and may be sidelined through January with a quad strain. Joe Harris was acquired to add shooting, but injuries have limited him to seven games and he’s connecting at just 36% from the field.

There’s more from Detroit:

There’s nothing to be gained by firing Weaver now, but owner Tom Gores will have no choice if things don’t improve over the rest of the season, contends Shawn Windsor of The Detroit Free Press. Windsor argues that Weaver hasn’t done anything in his three-plus years with the organization to justify letting him run another draft or oversee the considerable money the Pistons will have to chase free agents next summer.
Coach Monty Williams made a lineup change Saturday night, using guards Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Killian Hayes as starters, per Mike Curtis of The Detroit News. Williams explained that the move was made partially to match up with Cleveland’s small backcourt, but he likes the way his three guards have been performing together. Curtis notes that Cunningham played off the ball more frequently for the second straight game and showed better decision making with his shooting.
The Pistons got a much-needed addition Saturday night with the season debut of Bojan Bogdanovic, who had been sidelined with a strained right calf. Bogdanovic said he suffered the injury shortly before training camp and had another setback that kept him out longer than expected, tweets James L. Edwards of The Athletic.

Pistons Bench Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson

November 30th, 2023 at 10:29pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Pistons made a pair of significant lineup changes before their 118-112 loss to the Knicks on Thursday night, benching Jaden Ivey and rookie Ausar Thompson and moving Killian Hayes and Isaiah Livers into their starting lineup. With their 16th straight loss, they became the first team to go winless for an entire month since the 2015 Sixers.

Coach Monty Williams making the decision to bench both Ivey and Thompson is significant. Ivey was a key starter for Detroit last season after being selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 draft, averaging 16.3 points in 73 starts last year.

However, his role has been much more suppressed this year under Williams. His efficiency is up (50.8% from the floor this year entering Thursday compared to 41.6% last season), but he’s only started in five of his 15 appearances and was down to 23.4 minutes per night (from 31.1) entering Thursday.

Ivey didn’t begin the year as a starter, with Hayes taking on that role before relenting it to Ivey over the past five games. Hayes, the No. 7 overall pick in 2020, was averaging 8.5 points and 4.4 assists per game entering Thursday but recorded 23 points on 76.9% shooting against New York.

According to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps (Twitter link), Williams said the decision to start Hayes over Ivey came down to him liking Hayes’ ability to allow Cade Cunningham to play off the ball more and he likes how the fourth-year guard can get the team organized.

As for Thompson, he was a full-time starter before his benching Thursday. This year’s No. 5 overall pick has been one of the most impressive rookies this season, averaging 11.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.6 blocks. Livers started in his place, recording six points and four rebounds.

Neither Thompson or Ivey played major roles off the bench on Thursday, with both logging just 13 minutes of game time, though Thompson had five fouls. That marks Ivey’s second-lowest minute total this season and Thompson’s lowest in his young career. Marcus Sasser finished with the most minutes off the bench, recording 17 points.

While losing their 16th straight game is obviously disappointing, the Pistons kept it close with the Knicks and seemed to find something with how they utilized Cunningham, tweets Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. Cunningham finished with 31 points and eight assists. Mike Curtis of The Detroit News observes that the Pistons’ three-guard lineup of Cunningham, Ivey and Hayes helped kick-start a 13-0 run and when Ivey was subbed out, the Knicks hit back.

We’ll be watching Detroit to see what happens with the team’s young pieces moving forward. So far, their young core hasn’t meshed well and moves could be on the way if their losing ways continue. In the short term, Bojan Bogdanovic is expected back soon, which should help with the Pistons’ spacing issues (they ranked 29th in made threes entering Thursday).

Central Notes: Bulls, LaVine, Lakers, Cunningham, Cavs, Walker

November 20th, 2023 at 4:35pm CST by Rory Maher

While Zach LaVine has been mentioned in several rumors this fall after it was reported that both he and the Bulls are increasingly open to exploring a trade, the two-time All-Star isn’t one of the two players on Chicago’s roster that rival teams have shown the most interest in thus far, reports Marc Stein at Substack. Six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan and two-time All-Star Nikola Vucevic aren’t on the list either.

All-Defensive guard Alex Caruso is the Bulls player opposing teams are most intrigued by, per Stein, followed by forward Patrick Williams.

As Stein writes, the Bulls haven’t made Caruso available, but he would have a “double-digit list of suitors” if that were to happen. As for Williams, who was the No. 4 overall pick in 2020, Stein says rivals still find him intriguing despite a very poor start to the season. Williams is set to hit restricted free agency in 2024.

In the same article, Stein says he’s heard the Lakers‘ rumored interest in LaVine is “best described (at most)” as to be determined. According to Stein, L.A. hopes that Jarred Vanderbilt (heel) and Gabe Vincent (knee) will provide a “meaningful boost” once they return from their respective injuries.

Here’s more from the Central:

As a former No. 1 overall pick who was the top recruit in his high school class, plenty of hype has followed Cade Cunningham. But advanced stats are extremely low on the third-year Pistons guard, according to Zach Kram of The Ringer, who writes that Cunningham has trouble scoring efficiently from all over the court. Kram takes an in-depth look at Cunningham’s game and his advanced metrics, suggesting that he might be more of a No. 2 offensive option on a good team rather than the No. 1 option he’s been made out to be.
The Cavaliers had perhaps their best win of the season on Sunday, defeating the defending-champion nuggets without Donovan Mitchell (hamstring) and Caris LeVert (knee). However, the victory didn’t answer the two biggest questions facing the franchise, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic: Has Cleveland has improved enough to advance past the first round of the playoffs? And is Mitchell “happy enough” to sign an extension next year to stay long term?
Jarace Walker, the No. 8 overall pick in June’s draft, has only played 41 total minutes over four games for the Pacers to this point, mostly in garbage time. Head coach Rick Carlisle has told the young forward to stay ready, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “This is what being a professional is all about,” Carlisle said. “He’s probably always played at every level he’s played at from middle school to high school to college, AAU, you name it, but given the present circumstance, you gotta be a pro and work at your craft and you gotta be ready. I talked to him two days ago and let him know. I said, ‘I don’t know when it’s gonna happen but your time is coming. That’s how it works in this league.'”