Why Cade's lung won't ruin the Pistons

News broke Thursday morning that Cade Cunningham, who left five minutes into his last match with back spasms, was diagnosed with a partially collapsed lung.

First, second, and third, I hope Cunningham is okay. I’m not a doctor, but I’m pretty sure lungs are important. A collapsed one sounds bad! Cade will reportedly miss “an extended period of time,” which is ominous, too. Let’s hope for the best. ESPN just added that he’ll be re-evaluated in two weeks, and that the collapsed lung is considered mild. Cade and the team are clearly still figuring things out on the fly, but it doesn’t sound that serious, all things considered.

We don’t know too much yet, but the fabulous Jeff Stotts and his comprehensive medical database made me feel a little better:

Jeff Stotts@InStreetClothes

Cade Cunningham Injury Update: A pneumothorax (collapsed lung) is much more common in contact sports like the NFL but there have been several cases in the NBA including Gerald Wallace, CJ McCollum (2x), & Terrence Jones. Average time lost? 26 days (~10.8 games)

1:55 PM · Mar 19, 2026 · 37.1K Views

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26 days lost on average. The Pistons currently have 25 days left in their regular season. The playoffs will begin approximately a week after that, so in about a month.

The good news: Detroit can survive without him for a while.

There is a misconception that the Pistons are entirely reliant upon Cunningham for wins. While the team is more than eight points better with Cunningham on the floor than off, they have actually outscored opponents by 2.7 points per 100 possessions when he rests, which is what you’d expect from a roughly 48-win team (that’s typically against backups, so take that with a shaker of salt).

In more tangible terms, they’ve gone 5-2 without him in the seven games he’s missed this year (6-2 if you include their win against Washington when he played just five minutes). I don’t expect them to win 75% of their remaining games, but they won’t go 3-11, either.

Poetry favorite Daniss Jenkins figures to step into a starting role, and while he is nowhere near the level of offensive creator that Cunningham is, 6.5 assists per 75 possessions ain’t half bad for a backup point guard. Plus, he serves them saucier than required:

Jenkins will help the team lean even further into its slavering defensive identity, too.

For more offense, the team will likely give much-derided Caris LeVert a shot at some secondary initiation — while he’s had a down year, a confident version of LeVert might be the best off-the-dribble guy the team has now. Tobias Harris will undoubtedly soak up some shots, and if anyone can get him the ball consistently, Jalen Duren will feast.

That said, the Pistons don’t have quite as much cushion as they’d like. They have a 3.5-game lead on the Celtics for the top seed, with only three games against clear tanking teams left (Washington, Milwaukee, and Indiana). Thankfully for Detroit, Boston faces just two, and the Celtics have a slightly harder remaining strength of schedule overall.

New York is five games back of Detroit. That’s not quite far enough away to entirely dismiss as a threat, but the Pistons would have to completely derail to fall behind the Knicks.

However, I do wonder if Cunningham won’t push to come back earlier than he should, thanks to the NBA’s 65-game rule. Right now, Cunningham has played in just 60 qualifying games. He’ll need a handful more to qualify for an All-NBA team (where he’ll be, at minimum, a Second Team selection) and MVP voting (where he has a strong chance to hit the bottom of the ballot).

Cunningham is already on his supermax contract thanks to an All-NBA team nod last year, so he doesn’t strictly need it from a monetary sense, but being so close to qualifying again would be tempting for anyone. I’m a little worried Cunningham could try too hard to return and risk some kind of re-injury. Of course, this isn’t a pulled hammy or sprained ankle; I’d hope there are brighter lines between “go” and “no-go” for the body’s premier breathing apparatus.

Regardless, while Cunningham’s injury doesn’t seem likely to derail him or the team from the playoffs, it does throw a wrench in the Pistons’ plans. They’ve struggled to score of late against quality opponents, and their chances of finding a rhythm before the postseason are essentially nil now. Will conditioning be an issue for a returned Cunningham?

And while earning the one- or two-seed in the East has traditionally meant taking a breather (no pun intended) in the first round against play-in cannon fodder, this year’s potential opponents could include red-hot teams like the Atlanta Hawks (winners of 11 straight!), Charlotte Hornets (who have the best starting lineup in the league, somehow), Orlando Magic, or Miami Heat. None of those matchups projects to be the sort of pastry trot we’ve seen in years past.

The Pistons have faced plenty of disrespect all season; many sportsbooks gave them just the fourth-best odds of winning the East even before the news broke this morning. We’ll check back in after a few weeks to see if this is merely a bump in the road or a catastrophe.