Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons have agreed to a five-year maximum rookie extension worth a projected $224 million, his agents told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Tuesday. If he makes an All-NBA team next season, that projection will bump up to $269 million, with a first-year salary that equals 30% of the 2025-26 salary cap.
The contract does not include a player option, per Yahoo Sports' Vince Goodwill. This deal is similar, if not identical, to the contract extensions that fellow members of the 2021 draft class Scottie Barnes and Franz Wagner got from the Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic, respectively.
Cunningham was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, and despite missing most of the 2022-23 season due to injury, he bounced back with a strong 2023-24 campaign even as his team floundered. He averaged 22.7 points, 7.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds for the Pistons last season as they won 14 games and finished with the NBA's worst record.
The Pistons are still in the middle of a rebuild that began before Cunningham even arrived, and that rebuild was reset this offseason when they hired Trajan Langdon as the team's new top basketball executive. Detroit then fired head coach Monty Williams and hired former Cleveland Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who is now Cunningham's third coach in four seasons.
Getting Cunningham's extension done was important, and getting it done without a player option should be considered a minor victory for Langdon. Now, his front office and Bickerstaff's coaching staff have to figure out how to maximize his talent. While Ron Holland, selected No. 5 in this year's draft, is not much of a 3-point shooter, the additions of Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr and Tobias Harris (and the re-signing of Simone Fontecchio) indicate that the Pistons are trying to put Cunningham in a healthier offensive environment.
This extension reinforces that Cunningham isn't going anywhere. Ideally, though, thanks to all of these changes, his 2024-25 season will feel like a fresh start.
