Roughly an hour before each Detroit Pistons game, Cade Cunningham emerges from the locker room for his pregame routine. Before a single shot gets taken and sometimes before Cunningham laces up his player-edition Nike G. Cuts, he connects with Pistons assistant coach Jarrett Jack at half court. Jack, a former year NBA veteran, is the coach closest to Cunningham and the one who works with him.
They switch and the same thing occurs for a few minutes. They are just tossing up a ball in the air. The Pistons have improved this season with Cunningham elevating his play. But his offseason work, leadership and the resolve he developed from an arduous season have molded him into a formidable NBA All-Star candidate. I watched him play as a kid.
So, it was easy for me to connect with him, ask him about pick-and-rolls or anything. So what makes Cunningham an All-Star? Cunningham shoots his highest percentage In this play, Cunningham has a height advantage of five inches over Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard. Cunningham backs him down, forcing Luke Kornet to rotate over as a help defender. Kornet leaves Ron Holland II open for a 3-pointer, and Cunningham skips it across the court for the easy triple by Holland.
Consistently this season, Cunningham makes plays out of double-teams to create easy shots for his teammates. And finally, watch how Cunningham creates offense for himself. Cunningham gets Garland into a screen-and-roll situation, knowing Garland would switch to him.
Cunningham takes Garland into the post, is patient as Jarrett Allen rotates over to help, steps back and sinks a jumper over the outstretched arms of both Garland and Allen. First couple of games, I got straight to it and I felt like I was converting for us every possession early on.
