Detroit Pistons' Cade Cunningham 'not a guy that drives winning,' ESPN podcast concludes
The Detroit Pistons remain the No. 1 topic in national NBA coverage as their league-record 28-game losing streak rolled on. The latest chatter came after the Pistons tied the infamous mark in a 128-122 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.
This time, it was ESPN's Hoop Collective podcast, hosted by Brian Windhorst, that led with the trainwreck of a season for Detroit. Windhorst, along with ESPN reporters Tim Bontemps and Tim McMahon, spent half of their podcast, which was recorded before the Celtics loss but released Friday morning, breaking down the Pistons' misery.
The three national NBA reporters talked about the improbability of such a losing streak in a league such as the NBA, in which outcomes can widely vary from night to night, the Pistons' postseason winning drought, the performances of general manager Troy Weaver and coach Monty Williams and whether or not Cade Cunningham can be the true first option on a winning team.
The main discussion, though, centered around Cunningham and his ability to be a catalyst for winning basketball. While acknowledging Cunningham's strong play in the past few weeks as he's tried to drag the Pistons to wins, the three co-hosts all said they believe he's not the "franchise-changing" player Detroit needs.
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"There’s certain No. 1 picks that you get that totally change the trajectory of your franchise," Bontemps said. "Cade is going to be a really good player, but it doesn’t seem he’s going to be that kind of player.”
Cunningham has been the lone source of optimism for Detroit fans as the hub of the offense in his return from last season's shin surgery. Through 31 games, Cunningham is averaging 23.3 points on 44.9% shooting, 7.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds. He has found a new stride on offense as the streak reached historic levels, averaging 25.9 points on 52.1% shooting with 6.5 assists a game over the Pistons' most recent 10 games, including two games with at least 40 points.
"He’s played better lately, but I think what you can sort of safely say at this point is, he’s got a chance to be a really good player, but it seems unlikely he’s going to be a top-five, change-the-franchise kind of player," Bontemps said.
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McMahon agreed with his co-host and took it a step further, saying he is doubtful Cunningham can even be the best player on a “decent” team, let alone a title contender.
Windhorst said McMahon's declaration was "premature" while also agreeing that Cunningham wasn't on the same level as other young guards such Ja Morant and Luka Doncic, who have led their respective teams to multiple playoff appearances.
“He was the No. 1 overall pick so your standard is that," Windhorst said. "If you’re saying to me, he doesn’t look like he’s Ja or Luka, I would agree with that statement. But I still think he can be an All-Star.”
Windhorst and McMahon suggested Cunningham is operating in a bad situation and criticized Weaver for not adding shooting to alleviate some of the weight from the young guard's shoulders. Windhorst said despite all of Weaver's moves as GM, he has only drafted non-shooters and traded the only good shooter — Saddiq Bey — for James Wiseman, creating another spacing concern. Those moves, McMahon said, have hampered Cunningham's growth.
"Especially when you have a guy who you hope is going to be a premier playmaker who is just … we have no idea how good Cade Cunningham might be because the circumstances are so bad around him," McMahon said. "The spacing is horrific."
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After talking about the 2021 draft class, when Cunningham was selected No. 1 overall, and highlighting potential All-Stars in Toronto's Scottie Barnes (the 2021-22 Rookie of the Year) and Houston's Alperen Sengun, the conversation went back to Cunningham, who was knocked for not being a “driver of winning”.
“I’m a huge fan of Cade’s game,” Bontemps said. “I think he’s really good, but if he was at that kind of a level, these guys wouldn’t be 2-28.”
“You don’t lose 27 straight if you have a guy that drives winning,” McMahon said.
Before moving on to other NBA topics, Bontemps labeled Weaver's rebuild as a failure and said the Pistons are still at square one in terms of building a winner in the NBA.
"The sad part for the Pistons fanbase is that they are at ground zero, rebuild-wise,” Bontemps said. “We’ve joked a bunch about 'phase two' with the Rockets, but you look at Orlando, you look at Houston, you look at Oklahoma City, you look at all these teams that are on the way up, trending up with young players. The Pistons are still at the bottom after all that time. It’s going to be a long grind to get out of the hole they are in now.”
Next up: Rockets
Matchup: Pistons (2-29 entering Saturday) at Houston (15-15).
Tipoff: 8 p.m. Monday; Toyota Center, Houston.
TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).
More online: Saturday night's home game against Toronto ended after this edition went to print. Visit freep.com/sports to see if the Pistons were able to finally end their losing streak.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: ESPN podcast blasts Cade Cunningham: 'Not a guy that drives winning’
