Cade Cunningham is ecstatic about how he and the Detroit Pistons are about to approach the upcoming season after committing to several massive moves, transactions, and ample recovery rest this summer.
“Super excited,” he told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps after an impressive showing for the select team against Team USA in preparation for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. “I think Coach Williams coming in, I feel like that’s the best-case scenario for us, and we got it done. And then the young guys that we got coming in are really going to help us.
“I’m excited about them. They’re great players on the court and also really good people and people that I’m excited to work with. So it should be a fun year.”
The previous 2022-23 season considerably left a bad taste in the appetite of both Cunningham and the Pistons. The franchise was rocked to a league-worst 17-65 record, while the 2021 top overall pick wasn’t able to seize much of his potential upon only being available to just 12 games of play after he underwent a season-ending shin surgery last November.
In hopes to push their status to a greater position from being a rebuilding team, the Pistons went aggressive this offseason by first landing Month Williams as their newest bench boss in a historic contract pact. In the NBA Draft, they were able to land another youthful piece in Ausar Thompson for the fifth overall selection.
To add up, Detroit made significant acquisitions by acquiring both Joe Harris and Monte Morris via trades and was also able to extend their ties with Isaiah Stewart for a four-year, $60MM rookie scale extension.
Featuring a plethora of young and talented prospects who are mixed with some savvy and reliable veterans who can surely contribute under the lead of Croatian wing Bojan Bogdanovic, the Pistons are truly a team to watch in this upcoming season.
After years of mediocrity, Detroit does certainly look promising with its current core as they are also well equipped to shock the world and defy expectations as years go by.
