J.B. Bickerstaff knows Cade Cunningham's strengths, and his weaknesses. In fact, no opposing coach knows Cunningham better after his first years in the NBA. Bickerstaff scouted and schemed against Cunningham nine times as head coach of the Cavs, more than any team in the league. Now they're on the same side.
"I think he’s a stud," Bickerstaff said Wednesday when he was introduced as new head coach of the Pistons. "I don’t think there’s a lot that he can’t do on the basketball floor."
Between Cunningham's size, vision and shot-creating ability on offense, and his length on defense, "our focus is making him one of the best two-way players in this league," Bickerstaff said. That's exactly what you'd expect out of a player who just signed a four-year, $208 million max rookie extension. And that's exactly what will have to happen now for the Pistons to return to prominence under Bickerstaff and Trajan Langdon, the man who gave Cade that deal.
"And having conversations with him, he’s hungry," Bickerstaff said. "He has a fire. He’s a competitor. And he wants to be a part of taking the Pistons to the next level."
It's been a grueling journey for Cunningham since being drafted first overall. He's struggled, lost time to injures, and been subjected to pitiful levels of losing. He's also grown in spite of his surroundings. And while there's still plenty of growing to do, it's remarkable, literally, that Cunningham was one of only six players last season -- along with superstars LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Luca Doncic, Damian Lillard and Tyrese Haliburton -- who averaged at least 20 points and 7 assists. It's even more significant that he made marked strides as a shooter.
Bickerstaff took the Cavs where Cunningham wants to go. Cleveland went from the bottom of the East to the conference semis in the last three years, but not without the addition of a dynamic point guard and leader in Donovan Mitchell. Cunningham must evolve into the same piece for the Pistons, who have been the worst team in basketball for five years running. In Bickerstaff's chat with Cunningham after being hired, he got the sense "that he’s ready to go."
"It was just was a feel of, tired of the same," Bickerstaff said. "I know last year was extremely difficult on all these guys who were here, and he mentioned that. His willingness to do whatever we ask him to do to help this team get better and to get better as an individual, those are all things that we talked about, how we’re going to go about doing it. And there was no question (from him). It was, ‘OK, let’s go get it done.’"
That's the fire Bickerstaff's talking about. Cunningham's always had it; it's just been stamped out by bad teams and worse lineups in Detroit. His volume production is impressive. But Cunningham has been an inefficient offensive player largely because he's had no other choice. He's been forced into bad shots and low-percentage plays by the lack of high-percentage shooters around him.
Langdon, with Bickerstaff, is intent on changing that. The Pistons have already added three veteran wings this offseason in Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley. All of them should help create that precious concept the team has been missing: space.
"With the young guys we have, we’re trying our best to put them in positions of success," Bickerstaff said. "And success a lot of times, offensively in particular, starts with that space. When you have a guy like Cade who has the wiggle to get to the paint and create, and bigs like Jalen (Duren) and Isaiah (Stewart) that can put pressure on the paint, it’s paramount that you have the proper spacing around them, so they can see some success and gain confidence. That’s how they’ll continue to get better."
But this is just as much on Cunningham to elevate on his own. That's what franchise players do. He took an important step last season when he put up career-highs with 22.7 points and 7.5 assists per game and a 35.5 percent mark from three. He also committed the sixth most turnovers in the NBA and struggled to get to the line. While LeBron, Jokic, Doncic and Haliburton all ranked within the NBA's top 10 in Player Efficiency Rating, Cunningham ranked outside the top 60.
He has to take better care of the basketball, especially late in games. He must make smarter decisions in traffic, and take smarter shots. He needs to dig in on defense by using his body, just like he does on offense. Cunningham can no longer settle for stuffing the box score in losing efforts. The Pistons can no longer accept it. As much as a better supporting cast -- which is to say any supporting cast -- should help, the Pistons also need more in year four from Cunningham himself.
"I know it’s not easy and change on young players has an impact on them," said Bickerstaff, whose contract with the Pistons is for four years with a team option for a fifth. "My hope is that we get to work together for a long time and the consistency in the systems, his teammates, the guys around him, all those things are going to help him become a better basketball player as well."
Cunningham turns 23 in September. The Pistons have 134 more losses than wins since drafting him, albeit with Cunningham missing most of his second season. They're making a $208 million bet that he can become an All-NBA-caliber player, and banking on Bickerstaff to boost the odds. Together, they sound steeled for the road ahead. When they inevitably stumble, "We’ll just keep picking each other up," Bickerstaff said.
"He’s shown that leadership, that want and that will," said Bickerstaff. "Then throw his talent on top of it, you’ve got a guy who’s capable of being really special."
The arrow is pointing up on Cunningham, and the pressure is rising. It's on Bickerstaff to push him higher, and on Cunningham to keep climbing. It's only the next era of Pistons basketball -- and maybe the rest of their careers -- that hang in the balance.