The Detroit Pistons and guard Cade Cunningham have agreed to a maximum contract extension, agents Jeff Schwartz and James Dunleavy told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Cunningham averaged 22.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.4 blocks for the Pistons this past season in 62 games, shooting 44.9% from the field, 35.5% on 3-pointers and 86.9% from the free-throw line. He’ll make $13.9 million next season.
Detroit, of course, finished with the NBA’s worst record (14-68) and set the single-season NBA mark for consecutive losses at 28. But the Pistons have made some changes, theoretically to help benefit Cunningham, the face of the franchise.
That included changing coaches from Monty Williams to J.B. Bickerstaff, as well as landing veteran players such as forward Tobias Harris, shooting guard Malik Beasley and wing Tim Hardaway Jr.
Woj reported that Cunningham’s new deal is worth $224 million, and could be worth up to $269 million.
“Cunningham — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft — can elevate the deal to 30 percent of the team’s salary cap with the earning of All-NBA honors next season,” Wojnarowski wrote.
“Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon made Cunningham’s extension a priority upon taking over the job several weeks ago and reached an agreement on Tuesday with Schwartz and Dunleavy,” Wojnarowski wrote.
The Pistons and all other teams begin play in the NBA Summer League this weekend.
“The offense moved through Cunningham, who ranked in the top-10 in average touch length, dribbles per touch, on-ball screens used and drives per game, per Second Spectrum,” Wojnarowski wrote.
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