DETROIT -- It hasn’t even been a full month since rookie guard Cade Cunningham has suited up in a Detroit Pistons uniform. But the top overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft is already making history.
In Monday night’s loss to the Sacramento Kings, the Arlington, TX. native scored a career-high 25 points, while pulling down eight rebounds and handing out 8 assists. He shot 50 percent in the field, making 10 of his 20 overall attempts. He sank five shots from distance to cap off his best offensive night of the season so far.
With his career night, the Pistons rookie joined some pretty elite company, not only within the Pistons franchise but also the league.
According to ESPN Stats and Info, Cunningham joined Grant Hill (4x) and Dave Bing (1x) as the only Pistons rookies with 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in a game in franchise history. He is also the first Pistons rookie with 25 points and five or more rebounds, assists and three-pointers in a game in team history.
He joins Steph Curry (2x), Trae Young and Jason Kidd as the only rookies in NBA history with 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and five triples in a game, per StatMuse.
At 20 years and 51 days, he also became the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 25 points, have eight rebounds, eight assists and five three-pointers in a game. He is followed by LeBron James (20 yrs, 100 days), Trae Young (20 yrs, 163 days) and Luka Doncic (20 yrs, 248 days).
It’s no surprise that Cunningham has been quickly adjusting to the NBA. Pistons head coach Dwane Casey has praised Cunningham for his high basketball IQ and said that would be the reason he transitioned to the NBA speedily.
“It just says who he is,” Casey said ahead of Monday’s game. “Once he gets experience, you’ll see more consistency through four quarters. But the DNA he has, the moment is never too big for him. He revels in the moment as much as anything else.”
In his first three games, Cunningham needed to knock the rust off after missing the entire preseason and first four games of the regular season. Even through them, his steady improvement stood out.
The most recent five games have shown that Cunningham very much has the skills to make it in the league. Since Nov. 5, Cunningham has averaged 16.2 points on 43.8 percent shooting in the field.
His shooting has also picked up as he has found his stroke and feel for the game. He’s making 40.5 percent of his shots from long range on 7.4 attempts per game.
“Now just getting more and more comfortable with our system and who we are,” Cunningham said. “Now I think it’s just time to grow and get better with it. I feel like in the Toronto game we had a pretty good flow in our offense. We were moving the ball well, and I think now it’s just about being consistent.”
As a rookie part of one of the youngest teams in the league, Casey has cautioned that there will be ups and downs this season. Part of those downs includes limiting turnovers as he continues to figure out how defenses attack his game.
“Every game, I feel like I add something to the hard drive and something to my game,” Cunningham said. “I’ve learned so much about me as a person and me as a player since I got to the NBA. It’s promising for me, at least, to stay confident and just believe in myself for the future.”
Through his first eight games, Cunningham is averaging 3.6 turnovers in the game, which ranks 12th in the league. He sits behind some of the top players in the league, including Russell Westbrook (5.3), James Harden (4.6) and Paul George (4.3).
But there is plenty more good that has come with the return of Cunningham, including his ability to perform when the pressure is truly on. He continues to show that the Pistons will be able to count on him especially as the team gets more and more competitive.
“It’s cool. To see the same things, to see me still translate over into the next level,” Cunningham said. “I was doing it in high school and to see it translate over to college was cool. Now being in the NBA is a dream come true. More than anything, winning games is the goal. Any way I can to help us do that is what I’m trying to do.”
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