NBA Rookie Watch II: Eher Chris Paul als Luka Doncic

The rookie watch is back and looks at top pick Cade Cunningham, who is slowly thawing out after a weak start to the season. We also look at the constant improvements made by Franz Wagner and possibly the best rookie big defender since Tim Duncan.

A good quarter of this season has already been played, and it is high time to look at the rookies for the second time this season. And we find that the 2021 class continues to show promise. The top pick from July, Cade Cunningham, didn’t even show everything.

The Pistons Guard missed almost the entire training camp with an ankle injury, which of course is not ideal for a successful first season. The top pick has now played 18 games, with the sometimes devastating throwing rates standing out for a long time. 37.9 percent from the field, a good 30 percent from downtown – that is anything but the yellow of the egg, but the trend is upwards and it is worth taking a closer look at the playmaker’s game.

This is only partially defined by the shoot. Litter has been a big issue with the 20-year-old since high school, but in college Cunningham hinted that he knows where the basket is. In the NBA he has not yet been able to implement this, his odds for jump shots are among the worst in the NBA (32 percent).

Cade Cunningham: A winner guy

The response is of course tremendous, the word “bust” came up very quickly in this context, especially because Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes got off to such a good start. This is of course nonsense, but you would have to watch the games of the Pistons (yes, that’s a big hurdle at the moment) to really understand the game of Cunningham. He doesn’t have the athleticism to produce highlights on the assembly line, his style is rather sober. Instead, it’s the little things that make him stand out from the crowd.

“He’s a winner,” said Blazers coach Chauncey Billups. “He’s so talented and can do pretty much anything. Give him the ball and he’ll create something good for you.” Cunningham plays at his own pace, manipulating opposing defenses. He is only looking for his own degree to a limited extent, but he has an excellent eye for his own teammates and the possible advantages that his team can draw from them. The problem is that the Pistons are just not a good team. Here is an example from the game with the Clippers, when Cunningham played an excellent pass, but the free shooter Saben Lee simply refused the open throw.

Countless examples of this can be found. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Cunningham’s college days when his teammates just didn’t sink their open throws. Cunningham generates 9.8 possible assists per game, so according to Adam Riese, the Pistons players don’t even hit half of the number 1 pick’s assists.

Cade Cunningham: His stats in the NBA

Cade Cunningham: More CP3 than Luka

At the same time, this means that there is less space for the youngster on the court, which is also an explanation for the mediocre scoring. Cunningham may not become a scorer like Luka Doncic, who Detroit’s new star has been compared to, nonetheless he should be able to create enough for himself in the future. Instead, for surgical accuracy and total control of ball possession, Chris Paul might be the better comparison.

Much better than the offense has been the defense so far, where Cunningham stands his ground and has good fundamentals in this area. He understands rotations, mostly positions himself correctly and uses this in combination with his long arms for numerous deflections. With Cunningham is in accordance Cleaning the Glass both the offense (+1.4) and even more but the defense (-5.2) better when the 20-year-old is on the field. All of this makes the Cunningham package desirable despite the initial problems.

With these pistons, which are mainly aggressively limited, it is not easy for the top pick. Detroit stays in the basement, but another high pick beckons and thus more talent on the side of Cunningham.