16 Comments

Quick correction: there are two players on the HNI younger than Cade: Sengun and Wembanyama.

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"It’s a heavy load for a fourth-year player, particularly one still with fewer than two full seasons of games under his belt."

That right there points to what I think is the biggest part of Cade's current issues... besides his middling-by-NBA-standards athleticism, which he can only do so much to counter, all the court time he's missed due to injury so far in his career has slowed down his development. Well, that and the fact he now has a good coach who actually gives a crap for the first time since he got drafted.

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Totally. I didn't want to be a dead horse, but the difference between Bickerstaff and Williams (and Casey, too) is wild.

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beat*** a dead horse, but I absolutely don't want to be a dead horse, either haha

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What a post Mike! Amazing!

The Pistons are destined for a championship, whether it be the NBA Cup or the Larry O'Brien trophy.

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Thanks, Smayan! Ha, I hope they get one, I have a surprising number of friends who are Pistons fans. They deserve something nice.

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Did you ever do a piece on Monty Williams, who, by inference of your lead, was Cunningham's "incompetent" coach last year?

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No, I don’t really have any special insight into his situation. My understanding based on what was reported is that he repeatedly told Tom Gores he didn’t want to coach, and Gores kept upping the money, until Williams finally shrugged and said sure.

It was pretty clear his heart wasn’t in it almost from Day 1, though. He did some good stuff in Phoenix and none of that carried over.

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Appreciate that info. I didn't know he had burned out. Just the personal tragedy, the Suns success that seemed to be prematurely ended, and the unmitigated failure in Detroit. I see he's coaching his sons now. So maybe that's what he wanted all along.

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Yep! I don’t blame the guy, someone wants to shove 80 million in my face, I’d take it too. But his family situation I’m sure weighed on him, so hopefully he’s found his peace

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thanks for the Cade article! it's a needed oasis for Pistons fans wandering around the NBA news desert.

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Ha, I bet. I keep a running spreadsheet to make sure I hit every team every team at least semi-regularly!

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Agreed. I was going to cite that exact quote. For any other fourth year player (see Williams, Patrick) Cade's progress would make a front office nervous. Given his injuries, the roster churn, and the losses, he is doing pretty well. The best version of Cade may come from blending the cerebral over the athletic, developing a blend of Chris Paul hoop IQ and DeMar DeRozan's mid game bag. I don't Cade doesnt fit the current popular backcourt prototypes of athletic scorer or ball dominant point guard. His best impact would be closer to the Celtics big guards only with more scoring.

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Yeah, I like that last comparison a lot. I'd love to see him next to a big forward who can shoot and playmake a little, but how many of those guys exist?

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were witnessing the birth of a foul merchant. can get there but cant finish. just flop. watch.

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Maybe! He doesn't have that in him yet, but who knows what he looks like in a couple of years

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