Is Cade Cunningham officially a bust?

[Douglar]

Ok, he’s not Anthony Bennett bad, but he seems all flash and no thunder, rarely moving the needle towards a W. Got to be a tought time for Pistons fans who thought he was going to change things. Is Cade just in a bad situation or is the guy a officially a bust at this point?

 

[bigfoot5415]

I actually mentioned his lack of success recently. He has a usage close to 35% yet he struggles to get 20ppg and 6 acts. His length doesn't really help defensively or with reb. His shooting is 40%, which with someone his size is pretty rough. Then most importantly, he isn't impacting winning.

Not saying he's a bust but he was supposed to be a franchise catalyst.

 

[Rich]

No not at all.

I'd actually like to see what he looks like as the teams shooting guard for a bit.

But he can still be a good player.

 

[foucault87]

Some thoughts on Cade. I decided to focus on watching him a bit today because it has been a while since I have watched him. I think I second what we thought on this board around draft time. He is not a primary. The guy is a pretty good scorer - he has a good touch and is a good tough shot maker. But he struggles to create easy shots for himself due to his lack of burst speed or a shifty handle. His passing vision is fine for a scoring wing but not at the level of a true PG. He works mostly by read and react, not manipulation of the D. On defense, I think he will be solid moving forward. He has good length and a decent enough sense of positioning, although I wouldnt expect him to pull out any crazy plays like Ausar would. All in all, he still profiles something similar to a poor man's Paul Pierce or Iso Joe with maybe a little better defense. Probably will reach a few all star games and if things break correctly sneak 1-2 all NBAs, but he is not a franchise guy.

Copying above my observations from the game. No, he is not a bust and probably grades slightly above average for a first overall pick. Maybe not as good as he was hyped, but the draft heads totally misread him as a Luka Doncic/LeBron when he is more of a Khris Middelton

 

[Adam]

Copying above my observations from the game. No, he is not a bust and probably grades slightly above average for a first overall pick. Maybe not as good as he was hyped, but the draft heads totally misread him as a Luka Doncic/LeBron when he is more of a Khris Middelton

He's Atlanta hawks Steve Smith I can't unsee the lack of burst and reliance on shooting

 

[Lee]

Ok, he’s not Anthony Bennett bad, but he seems all flash and no thunder, rarely moving the needle towards a W. Got to be a tought time for Pistons fans who thought he was going to change things. Is Cade just in a bad situation or is the guy a officially a bust at this point?

Not at all, he is still developing. Sure he isnt a great player yet, but a bust in his third season while averaging close to 20 even if enificient isnt a bust I mean i am not a huge fan, but not a bust,

 

[foucault87]

He's Atlanta hawks Steve Smith I can't unsee the lack of burst and reliance on shooting

He was before my time but I'll take your word on that. How was his defense and playmaking? Cade is at least average to good at both

 

[Adam]

He was before my time but I'll take your word on that. How was his defense and playmaking? Cade is at least average to good at both

Decent Smitty was a 6'8 Pg before injury

 

[Goldin Brown]

I think it's too early to call him a bust; that organization just isn't doing him any favors with the roster they put together. They drafted Ivey but their games don't seem to compliment each other's, Ivey seems like he needs the ball to be effective. Then they have all these bigs and are trying to figure out which one's are useful.

They have to make a move or two and balance out that roster before you can really have any idea who can play on that team.

 

[Dr No]

He’s really only played 1 full season. For a guy with the ball in his hands most of the time, that’s not much. But you saw his weakness against us. He’s not an explosive athlete and so putting an agile, tall defender like Wade on him shut him down. As soon as he was guarded by a smaller guy, he went to work. But there are a number of tall defenders out there who will give him trouble. He’s going to have to learn to be crafty like Luka to make up for that.

 

[Cavatt]

Too early to say, but I don't think he is gonna live up to the hype. Seems unlikely he is better than Barnes, Wagner or Mobley at this point

 

[Randolphkeys]

I agree with @Dr No right now. He might be 100% recovered from the stress fracture, but his offensive and defensive advanced numbers are way down from his rookie year. I see that changing as he gets more games under his belt and the Pistons other rotation mainstay players get healthy. I bet he'd look a lot better with Duren at center, Bogey at small forward, and Ivey sharing the back court.

 

[Ohioplayer00]

Decent Smitty was a 6'8 Pg before injury

Reminds me more of Joe Johnson….Smithy was more athletic than Cade.

 

[RonG]

21 and 7 is hardly a bust.

 

[Douglar]

21 and 7 is hardly a bust.

Took Cade 21 shots to score 20 points and he didnt draw a single free throw.

That fits the profile of a below average player getting too many minutes on a bad team.