Cade Cunningham's turnovers are the result of past demons

Let's start with the obvious. Cade Cunningham has a turnover problem. The Detroit Pistons point guard began the season averaging 5.6 in his first five games, including 9 against Cleveland, 7 against Boston and 5 in his final game against Miami.

It's not a new trend either. Last season, Cade averaged 5.3 turnovers in his first four games and maintained that average above four through the end of November before improving and finishing the season with a more respectable 3.4 turnovers per game in 62 appearances.

Entering the season, Cade ranks fourth in the league in turnovers per game, trailing only James Harden, Trae Young (though both average well over 10 assists per game, while Cade is at around 7.5) and LaMelo Ball. In short, while Cade was second to none as a scorer, these turnover issues continued to plague the team and Cunningham individually.

Full disclosure: I think sometimes turnover numbers can be a bit overstated, especially when contextualized with usage rate and role, missed fouls, and the like. But high numbers are still high no matter which table you look at.

But what is the cause of this error?

No one bears the scars of the last three seasons of futility and ineptitude more than the Oklahoma State product. Cunningham, the face of a new era who was marketed as a savior after being drafted ahead of everyone else in 2021, was immediately promoted to a leadership role on a team that had such a dismal season that it wasn't even invited to Disney to have fun in the NBA bubble for a few weeks.

Cunningham was immediately given the keys to the franchise, allowed to make mistakes and explore his game, and his progress during his rookie season was a rare bright spot as the team stumbled to 23 wins.

Three seasons later, we have a star point guard averaging nearly 26 points and 7 assists per night. He went through the trouble of playing on some of the worst NBA teams of all time. The problem is that he only knows about malfunctions.

Last season, Cade ranked ninth in the NBA at 30.8%, meaning nearly 31 of the Pistons' 100 possessions ended in a shot attempt or turnover by Cunningham. Everyone before Cade on this list has either made an All-Star Game (Doncic, Antetokounmpo, Gilgeous-Alexander, Brunson, Edwards, Curry, Fox) or is an alien on the verge of taking over the league (Wembanyama).

Outside of Wembanyama, the difference between Cade's use was the individualism with which it was created. For a team that now holds the record for the longest losing streak in NBA history, the way the offense was run wasn't particularly sophisticated. There were no nice, crisp ball movements, no sharp rolls and jumps, no off-ball movement. It was a double whammy, Cade, and look what happens.

What happened? A lot. A lot of bad things.

The reason I highlight last season is to point out how little help Cunningham had in winning basketball games. That's not to say that Cade isn't to blame in all of this, far from it, but anyone who watched even a little bit of the misery of the last year could see the weight of the world on the young man's shoulders.

Think back to that streak of bad luck if you haven't already repressed that memory (I'm sorry). The six games before the breakthrough victory were perhaps the best stretch of basketball Cade played in a Pistons uniform. He averaged 31.7 points per game (including two 40-plus point explosions against Atlanta and Brooklyn) on 57% shooting from the field and 7.2 assists per game.

The team didn't win any of those games and it became a running theme in the series that the camera panned to Cade with a big L on his name after another great statistical game. It wasn't quite Tungsten Arm O'Doyle territory, but it was weird. Ironically, he had zero turnovers for 30 points and 12 assists in that win against the Raptors.

Last year, the Pistons had a cavalry of veterans who were only too happy to add their names to the group assignment, no matter the results, and let the process sink or swim whether it was Cunningham, along with Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, and in To a lesser extent, Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Stewart were also able to team up. It felt unfair that the reputations of young and talented players were tarnished by the sheer apathy of the veterans leading them and a coach who spent half his time on the bench playing Sudoku.

The last year has brought out these bad habits, not just in Cade, but especially in Ivey. The over-dribbling, the haphazard rushing into traffic, the leaving your feet and looking for a pass. There are lost years and then there's whatever the hell was last year.

That's why it was so important to turn the page and include a variety of new faces, bringing Cade and Jaden up like a rising tide. It's important to note that JB Bickerstaff is the third head coach (if you count Monty as a coach) that both of them have had in their short careers.

You see flashes of last year when Cade attacks the baseline, and instead of kicking it across the court to a wide-open Malik Beasley or Tim Hardaway Jr., he has a postwar flashback to the corpse of Joe Harris standing on is standing on the wing and takes the ball if he has shot poorly or the ball has been thrown away.

Not only is Cade playing with some of the lingering demons from last year, it's also affecting how teams still defend the Pistons. Theoretically, the workforce has increased significantly compared to the previous year. Beasley and Hardaway Jr. have both been hailed as shooters, Simone Fontecchio is starting to get going after a slow first few games, and Jaden Ivey appears to be taking a huge leap.

But that doesn't stop teams from doubling Cade, which forces him to make pressure decisions, and until he starts playing those double teams slowly, realizing where they're coming from and passing the blitz, teams will keep doing it . Teams are still defending the Pistons like it's December 2023, because even though it looks like a Maserati on the outside, it's still a Honda under the hood, and until proven otherwise, teams will still believe it .

Elimination from double teams is not an admission of weakness or a warning sign. In fact, not only is it a sign of respect from your opponent that he thinks you deserve special attention, but passing early can open up cleaner offensive opportunities not only for your teammates, but also for yourself, such as cuts and cuts.

Look at the development of Jayson Tatum. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but he has become one of the most doubled players in the association and has used that strategy to his advantage to pass early, move away from the ball, get it back and attack a pressing defense.

While there are definitely internal improvements needed on Cunningham's side to improve as a ball-handler and decision-maker, letting go of the anchor of last year's disaster and trusting that his is a logical first step toward healing Teammates make plays.

I've already talked about Jaden Ivey's promising early return to his role this year. Perhaps Ivey was the only player who fared worse than Cade last year. He has thrived so far under a coach who has better showcased his rare athletic ability rather than limiting him to a supporting role. Not only is Ivey averaging nearly 21 points per game and 4 assists, he has also been efficient from the floor and assists from three.

Will these numbers continue? I don't know, but his process feels repeatable right now and his aggressiveness has been a welcome element for the Pistons' offense when it's struggling in the halfcourt.

Aside from him, however, I've enjoyed Beasley and Hardaway Jr.'s work off the ball (the latter more than I thought), and both have shown that they're not only capable of hitting threes with high power and volume ( (apart from the poor Beasley play last time), but were also able to attack closeouts and operate in the midfield.

The big bugbear at the moment was the form of Tobias Harris. He was used as a stabilizing presence and has so far failed to do justice to this task. At this point you have to trust him to get through this. He was never going to be a scorer on this team anyway, but the Pistons need more than what they've gotten so far.

In theory, there are more failsafes this year to salvage Cunningham's stagnant offensive possessions. It's time for Cade to forget the past and trust his teammates again.

Oh, and a friendlier whistle wouldn't hurt either (Cade has the same free trade agreement as Jalen Smith).