OKC Thunder Giddy among special rookie performances in week 9
No. 2 – Cade Cunningham: Detroit Pistons
With Jerami Grant out with an injury that will keep him sidelined for four to six weeksCade Cunningham witnessed an uptick in his overall role.
Killian Hayes is getting some time at the point and Dwane Casey is experimenting on adding some off-ball plays for Cunningham but he’s the primary ball-handler and primary scorer with Grant out.
And it sure seems like the Pistons are invested in trying to go back-to-back seasons claiming the top draft pick via tanking. So, it’s also highly feasible Grant will be a key trading chip at the deadline as Troy Weaver attempts to pull something akin to Presti-light in stocking his draft closet.
Rookie category rankings:
- Points: 15.6 – tied with Barnes for first
- Turnovers: 3.8 – first
- 3-pointers made: 2.2 (7.0 attempts) –
- Assists: 5.0 – second
- Steals: 1.5 – first
- Field Goals Made: 5.8 – second
- Minutes per game: 32.3 – third
- Rebounds: 6.1 – fourth
- Blocks: 0.6 – three-way tie for eighth
- Offensive rebounds: 1.0 – 13th
- Triple-Doubles – one
- Double-doubles – five (tied with Barnes -second of elite five)
- Field goal percent: 39.1%
- 3-point field goal percent: 31.7% (fourth of elite five)
In week nine Cunningham played in three matches versus Pacers, Rockets, and Heat. He averaged 14.7 points, 5.3 rebounds (0.7 offensive), 8.3 assists,1.3 steals, 1.0 blocks, and 3.0 turnovers. His perimeter shot in week nine regressed back to 26.7 percent hitting only four of his 15 attempts.
Similarly, he vacillated between great performances and not-so-great efforts. Against the Rockets he posted a double-double of 21 points and 11 assists plus seven rebounds. But in the win versus the Heat, he scored only four points with although he added 10 assists. He was in foul trouble early and ended up fouling out of the match.
That latter match was the Piston’s lone win ending their 14-game losing streak and stopped short of matching a mark in franchise futility. Yet, as a true tanking team is wont to do the Pistons are right back to losing again.