In a segment on his podcast, NBA veteran Draymond Green gave the ultimate praise to Pistons star Cade Cunningham. According to Draymond and his co-host Baron Davis, the young star is certain to lead the Pistons to a championship at some point in his career.
“I’mma say it here first, Cade Cunningham, will bring a championship back to Detroit. I think he will, I think I see it happening,” said Green. “He got the mentality, he got the talent, he got the demeanor, he got the size. Cade Cunningham will bring championship basketball, championship rings (at least a ring) back to the Detroit Pistons. Obviously, I understand how important franchising organizations are to that ownership, and then they’re bringing in Trajan Langdon, and I think it’s a big deal. Trajan Langdon is ready to take that next step. I still think they got some fine-tuning of the roster and different stuff that needs to happen over the course of time, but I think Cade Cunningham will bring a championship back to Detroit.”
As a 4x champion and former Defensive Player of the Year, Draymond Green knows a winning player when he sees one. In the case of 23-year-old Cade Cunningham, Draymond has already seen enough from him to believe that he’s championship-winning material.
Since being drafted first overall in 2021, Cunningham has been the main star in Detroit. For his career, the guard out of Oklahoma State is averaging 21.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game on 46.2% shooting. Already, the Pistons have been making major progress with Cade.
It wasn’t that long ago that the Pistons were the worst team in the league. In the 2023-24 campaign, they lost an NBA record 27 straight games en route to one of the worst seasons of all time.
This season, the Pistons are almost unrecognizable. After adding some veterans in the offseason, they’ve become an entirely different team with Cunningham leading the way at 25.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 9.2 assists per game on 46.2% shooting.
At 6’6″ with skills as a scorer, leader, and playmaker, Cade has all the tools he needs to become a legend for the Pistons, but he can’t do it alone. For the franchise to take off and go up to the next level, they’ll need to add another star to raise their ceiling to new heights.
One potential option could be Lauri Markkanen from the Jazz, who is aging out of Utah’s timeline. For the right price, the Pistons could pair him with Cunningham and create a powerful two-way duo.
At sixth in the East, the Pistons are on track for a 46-win season, and many experts predict they could be playing into the second or third round of the playoffs this year. It’s massive progress for an organization that’s been in the lottery for the past few years, but the job is not done yet.
For Cade Cunningham and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, this is only just the start of turning the Pistons into an elite Eastern Conference team, but they are trending quickly in the right direction. With a few more tweaks to the roster and continued greatness from young players, they could become a borderline dynasty in the NBA.
