The Pistons have a Cade Cunningham problem they’d actually love to have: too much of the offense still runs through him.
Last season, Cunningham’s usage rate dropped from 33.2 percent in 2024-25 to 30.5 percent, which ranked ninth in the league overall. That dip mattered, because his production improved and he looked like he had more left in the tank when the games got bigger.
That was especially notable in the playoffs, where the concern around his workload loomed large after he missed time with a collapsed lung. Even then, his usage climbed back to nearly 33 percent in the postseason, and that only made Detroit easier to game-plan against. When everything flows through one player that heavily, defenses can load up and make life simple: just sell out on Cade.
Detroit didn’t bring in a true secondary creator this offseason, and Ebuka Okorie is still an unproven rookie, so the Pistons are going to have to find some answers inside the building.
Ausar Thompson and Daniss Jenkins are the two names that matter here. Both need to shoulder more of the offense next season, not just to bring the ball up, but to actually get defenses moving before Cunningham ever touches it. If Thompson or Jenkins can create some penetration, Cunningham can receive the ball with defenders already in rotation instead of having to build every possession from scratch.
There’s another layer to this, too: Cunningham showed in the playoffs that he can hurt teams without pounding the ball all night. In catch-and-shoot situations, he hit more than 48 percent of his 3s in the playoffs. It came on a small sample, but he still took 41 of those shots, and it’s a wrinkle Detroit needs to lean into more.
JB Bickerstaff started making that adjustment later in the playoffs, with Thompson and Jenkins handling the initial possession work so Cunningham didn’t have to burn energy just to cross half court. But the Pistons need more than that. The goal isn’t only to ease the load - it’s to put Cunningham in better positions against defenses that are already shifting.
If Detroit can keep Cunningham’s scoring where it needs to be while trimming his usage, that’s the sweet spot. More efficiency, less wear and tear, and a superstar who should have more in reserve when the Pistons need him most, at the end of games and in the postseason.
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Beys path since then has only sharpened the debate. He missed an entire season after the move because of injury, then resurfaced in New Orleans and showed real scoring value as a wing who can do more than just stand in the corner. For Pistons fans, it is the kind of trade that invites the same uncomfortable question every time a former young player breaks through elsewhere: whether Detroit moved on too soon, or simply caught him before the best version of his game arrived. [Read more 🡒]
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Pistons New Look Sparks The Identity Debate Fans Know Too Well
Nike has rolled out a new Specter Edition collection for eight of the NBAs oldest franchises, setting off the usual mix of curiosity and side-eye that comes anytime a team gets a fresh alternate look. The line will show up in warmups, practices and travel next season, with the jerseys set to be formally introduced later in the fall after a preview appeared at a recent Nike runway event.
For the Pistons, the new concept fits right into a franchise that has spent years juggling nostalgia, modern branding and the constant tug between looking forward and honoring what came before. Any new Detroit uniform always invites a bigger identity conversation than most, and this one should be no different once fans get a full look at the design and start debating whether it lands as a sharp refresh or another chapter in the never-ending style argument. [Read more 🡒]