24.5 points, 9.9 assists (2nd in NBA), 5.6 rebounds, 1st seed in the East all year, a PS3 video game main character face—everything coming up Cade Cunningham.
A first-team All-NBA spot guaranteed—Top 5 MVP finish automated.
Cade Cunningham led a team of guys who will swing on you if you graze their sneakers walking past them on the train—to a 50-win pace
And now he’s out anywhere between 3-6 weeks after suffering a collapsed lung earlier this week, diving for a loose ball against the Washington Wizards.
The collapsed lung injury of Cade Cunninghampic.twitter.com/yl700VYJwa https://t.co/BnfYhs72Ef
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) March 19, 2026
What if instead of NBA expansion, we sink the Wizards to the bottom of the ocean, move them into Atlantis’s neighborhood, and try this thing with 29 teams for awhile.
2 seasons removed from the longest losing streak in NBA history—Monty Williams legendary wage theft.
Last season, a first-round battle with the New York Knicks—a table-setter for what was to come this season.
2nd in defensive rating, 3rd in net rating, 49 wins and a few weeks away from securing the 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
This was a successful season—regardless of how it may tragically end to the sound of a lung popping like a gender reveal balloon.
So let’s talk about this situation with some optimism.
The benefit of having a player as great as Cade Cunningham is the position he puts the team, giving them an easy first-round matchup.
If Cade misses the end of the season and needs the full first round to recover, the Pistons are good enough to beat the Heat. Sixers, Hawks or Hornets.
Maybe the break from basketball will be a much-needed rest for his knees and ankles—returning him to full strength for a winnable second-round war with Cleveland or Toronto.
Best case scenario, Cade is back to MVP level and the Pistons march to the Eastern Conference Finals—collapsed lung an afterthought.
The Pistons have 14 games left, outside of games against the Wizards, Pacers and Bucks, they have 11 games against teams battling for playoff position.
Teams trying to climb the standings will see Detroit on the schedule as a quick lick to steal a game off the Cade-less squad. They’re marks right now
The worst case scenario, Boston and New York both leapfrog a Pistons team suddenly reliant on consistent, nightly production from Tobias Harris and Kevin Huerter—a guy who can barely get into the rotation—shooting 20% from 3 in his 13 appearances with Detroit since arriving at the trade deadline.
Jaden Ivey would’ve been nice, huh?
So what happens to the Detroit Pistons without Cade Cunningham?
Real talk, I never expected the Pistons to make the Finals—with or without Cade.
Kevin Huerter shooting 20% is a team-wide problem.
Detroit ranks 28th in 3-pointers made.
Boston, New York and Cleveland were about to bomb these cats—trading 2’s for 3’s against three clubs with exponentially more postseason experience.
Shit, the Hornets could win the play-in, end up in the 8th seed and run Detroit out of the gym round 1.
If anything, this is a chance for Pistons fans to take a breath and just enjoy the 2026 NBA playoffs without expectations. Free money.
Pistons fans should hope Cade returns at close to full strength for a handful of playoff games, removing all championship expectations, and instead, evaluating where their team stacks up against the best of the East—spotting holes and flaws in their roster to be addressed in the offseason.
All Cade Cunningham has to do is get his lungs back, play in one or two postseason games so the front office can make some roster-building determinations.
Perhaps in Cade’s absence, their backcourt becomes clear.
Someone emerges between Daniss Jenkins, Ron Holland, Caris LeVert Kevin Huerter and Marcus Sasser, as a building block they can keep—or maybe they all reveal themselves to be expendable and Detroit goes big game hunting for a backcourt partner for their ailing superstar.
It sucks this injury will keep Cade off an All-NBA team but you losers wanted a 65-game rule—believing it would make superstars play more—not realizing these guys weren’t being divas but legitimately hurt because this is professional sports and injuries happen.
Now Julius Randle is about to steal his third All-NBA selection and I have to explain to future generations how much that guy loved throwing 99mph fastballs into the coursides.
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