Shortly after the Pistons' dream season came to an end, their best player and the face of the franchise sat at a podium in front of a crowd of reporters and said, "I’ve never been part of anything like that, a group that was so willing to to buy in." Cade Cunningham is reason No. 1 why the Pistons' future is bright.
"We proved to ourselves that what we have in the room works and can be very successful in the NBA," Cunningham said after the Pistons gave the Knicks everything they could handle over a six-game playoff series. "I think at the same time we proved that to the rest of the league, that when they come play in Detroit, it’s going to be a dog fight."
The Pistons went from 14 wins to 44, from irrelevance back to the spotlight. The 23-year-old Cunningham carried them through most of the season. He couldn't quite get them over the hump against the Knicks, outdone by a proven closer in Jalen Brunson, who hit the series-winning shot with five seconds remaining iin Game 6.
"The immediate (emotion) is disappointment," Cunningham said. "Felt good about the series, so to not pull it out hurts. But that feeling will stick with us throughout the summer in our workouts and conversations and everything. We’ll be back and better."
Cunningham averaged 25 points, 8.7 assists and 8.3 rebounds in the series, but shot just 18 percent from three -- including 0-for-8 in the deciding game. Brunson averaged 31.5 points, 8.2 assists and shot 33 percent from three. Most notably, Cunningham committed twice as many turnovers. That's what he lamented Thursday night after learning "how much each possession matters in the playoffs."
"So many times I’d have a turnover and I’d just wish I could get that play back. Those are the ones that you just can’t get back in playoff basketball," he said.
That's an important lesson to learn for a team that plans to make the playoffs a habit in the years ahead. The Pistons have an exciting young core around Cunningham, featuring Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson, both of whom made major contributions against the Knicks, not to mention Jaden Ivey, who will be back next season from a broken leg. The Pistons also missed Isaiah Stewart's rim protection and toughness after he went down in Game 1 with a knee injury.
Detroit will have some important decisions to make in its veteran supporting cast, which was expertly assembled by Trajan Langdon. Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dennis Schroder will be free agents, and all of them helped Cunningham take his game to the next level. Beasley and Hardaway gave the Pistons more spacing as proven shooters. Schroder gave them another ball-handling option down the stretch.
As much as they helped Cunningham, he lifted the team. Asked what he's proudest of this season personally, Cunningham pointed to "the jump" he took as a leader.
"Helping my teammates succeed, that’s the thing I get the most joy from," he said. "I think I did the best job I have since being in the NBA with that as far as getting guys in the right position, getting them the ball in their spots, on time, allowing them to do their thing. And it’s only going to get better. I’ve still got a lot of work to do."