What Cade Cunningham provides the Pistons: 2. Defensive upgrade
The Pistons were a better-than-advertised defense last season, thanks more to pure effort and hard work than actually capable defenders. They were 19th in defensive rating, which won’t win you any accolades, but on a team full of rookies, Wayne Ellington and Frank Jackson getting all of the minutes, it’s hard to fathom doing any better than that.
Cunningham has tremendous size at 6’8″ and 220 lbs, and while he’s not the most mobile defensively, he does have remarkable instincts, intelligence and awareness. He’ll be a fantastic addition to a team with Jerami Grant and Killian Hayes and could be a major reason for their leap up the defensive ranks next season.
His physical and intellectual assets are going to be a big boost for a team that accomplished everything it did through sheer grit and will last season. They only won 20 games, but that roster had no business winning half the games they took down. Cunningham’s blue-chip defensive acumen and abilities are going to change all of that.