Cade Cunningham has failed to carry the Detroit Pistons to the playoffs so far in his 3 years in the Motor City. But it seems the franchise does not have much to complain about his performances. If anything, the Pistons seem to still rely on his capabilities for the upcoming seasons, as evident from the recent contract extension with the 22-year-old. While many analysts and fans are criticizing the $224 million deal, former Detroit star Rasheed Wallace believes this to be the right move on the franchise’s part.

Wallace shared his opinion of Cunningham in a post on X captioned, “Cade Cunningham is worth EVERY penny…” He expressed his liking for the 22-year-old as a big point guard. “As we always say about Scottie… Ant Edwards, Luka, a whole lot of other forwards… He’s a point forward. Yeah, he got the size with him,” he said. Rasheed Wallace further stated Cunningham’s numbers are good enough to move ahead with him. And that apart from his scoring being up, he has also started to understand the game on a pro level.

Notably, Cade has so far played three seasons with the Pistons and averaged a decently impressive stat line. His last season’s performance has been a significant improvement from his rookie season. In the 2023-24 season, the Pistons guard averaged 22.7 points per game, shooting 44.9% from the field and 35.5% from the three-point range.

Apart from this, the 6’6 tall guard also stacked up 4.3 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game. So it’s evident that Cade can do a bit of everything, like Doncic. However, Luka is now more refined while Cade is still in a developing stage. This makes it clear why the Pistons offered Cunningham a 5 year, $224 million maximum rookie extension.

The deal was in rumors for quite some time but recently ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed it as official. As per the report, the deal amount could go to $269 million. Notably, there is an elevator in the deal that, if Cade makes it to the All-NBA team next season, would bring the deal to 30% of the team’s salary cap.

Pistons’ roster and salary cap after signing Cunningham and Tobias Harris

As per the reports, apart from an extension with Cade, the Pistons have also landed their former star Tobias Harris. Notably, Harris inked a 2-year, $52 million deal with the franchise. Meanwhile, the Pistons also acquired Paul Reed after the 76ers waived him off. He will be reuniting with his teammate from the Sixers, as he lands with the franchise on a non-guaranteed $7.7 million contract. 

So it’s clear that after not making it to the playoffs for the last 5 seasons, the Pistons have now gone for a rebuild of sorts. As per an article by Bleacher Report, the team roster will now be something like — Point Guard: Cade Cunningham/Marcus Sasser; Shooting Guard: Jaden Ivey/Malik Beasley; Small Forward: Ausar Thompson/Tim Hardaway Jr./Ron Holland II; Power Forward: Tobias Harris/Simone Fontecchio/Bobi Klintman; and Center: Jalen Duren/Isaiah Stewart/Paul Reed. 

As for cap space, Spotrac states that the Pistons now have $135.3 million in cap allocations for the 2024-25 season. This leaves them with $5.2 million in cap space. Like Rasheed Wallace stated, it is understandable why Detroit would extend Cade’s contract. Now it’s to be seen if the team can turn the table for itself by adding another veteran like Harris to the mix.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.