Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham joins The Woj Pod to discuss what losing has taught him, the price of leadership, the responsibility of a franchise player and why he wants to see this through in Detroit.
Plus: Pistons GM Troy Weaver on the losing streak, Monty Williams/Cunningham and why he believes they’ll see through to success.
Some key snippets from the podcast, courtesy of ClickOnDetroit.com:
Here’s what Weaver told Woj
“I didn’t see this coming. I definitely didn’t see a streak like this,” Weaver said about the Pistons breaking the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history. “Just because of the character in the locker room and the character of the coaches, and the leadership from Monty and those guys.”
“Nobody wanted to be here, but we’re here, but we’re going to continue to fight our way through it,” Weaver said.
“We’re not happy. He’s on me every day, making sure we turn over every stone, making sure we’re looking at every way to improve this team, to get the Pistons back to competitiveness. That’s what we’re doing, there’s no sleep, there’s no rest, we’re going to continue to beat the drum, fight for every crumb we can to get this franchise going in the right direction.”
“I empathize with the fans, nobody wanted this, I appreciate their support, but I appreciate them not being happy, because guess what, we’re not happy,” Weaver said. “Sometimes you gotta take a step back to take a step forward. We didn’t want to do that. We wanted to march forward this year. But we had to take a step back and deal with this adversity.”
Weaver said he thought veterans like Bojan Bogdanović, Alec Burks, Joe Harris and Monte Morris would help fill the void of shooting and veteran leadership, but injuries played a part in getting them worked into the rotation. Morris has yet to play a game this season. But he believes the young core fits.
“The pieces fitting together, that’s still to be determined. Ivey starting in the backcourt with Cade, starting to be really productive. Duren, Cunningham, Ivey, Thompson, Stewart – the fit is to be determined. But Cade and Duren fit, with Ivey and Ausar, I think that young core – and Stewart, those guys fit. Defense fits first. You don’t shoot your way out of the bottom.”
“Do we need to get more shooting around Cade? Absolutely. That’s what the veterans were for, they showed it last night (vs. Utah). We definitely need to continue to add more shooting. But that’s at a premium, everybody wants to add shooting, but want to make sure we defend, too. We won’t be the Pistons until we defend at a high level, that’s where Monty and his staff are grinding these guys out on.”
Weaver said he plans to be aggressive at the trade deadline and into the offseason in free agency. But not at the expense of developing the team’s young core.
“We’re definitely gonna be active and aggressive in trade and free agents to help fortify the group, but our focus and concentration is on the young core led by Cade to restore and get the Pistons back to where we want to go.”
“Does it mean we’re going to make big deals? We don’t know. But we’re going to be aggressive in trying to improve this roster. It is what it is, our record is what it is, we have to improve the roster.”
Weaver said the losing streak and rough first half of the season has forced him to look “inward” to see how he can better serve the organization. He said him and Gores are having “really strong” conversations, and that he’s not interested in being right, but he wants to “make it right.”
“I’m really excited about the challenge ahead, because failure isn’t an option, for me or the organization,” Weaver said.
What Cade Cunningham told Woj
Cade mostly talked about the toll the losing streak took on him and how he sees things playing out for the rest of the season. He said it was the toughest stretch of basketball in his life.
“These times right now are as tough as they get in basketball. I look forward to better times ahead, I know they’ll come. Take these hits now, and learn from it all, and try to apply the things I’m learning from it.”
Cade said he didn’t think the losing streak could happen to him.
“I felt like something like this could never happen to me. I felt like I was so good, this couldn’t happen,” Cunningham said. “This has been one of the most humbling experiences for me in my life.”
Cunningham talked about Pistons fans supporting the team through the streak.
“I’m grateful for where I am, and where I’m going through this at,” Cade said. “The fact that they still come out and show the amount of support they show us every night. Those things are huge.”
“It definitely is tough knowing how bad our city wants it, and we’re not there yet, but it definitely sparks that fire to see it through to the other side and win for them.”
“It means a lot. It ups my game. It ups the whole team’s game. Knowing we’re representing more than just ourselves, representing the whole city that really cares about this game, and knows the game, too.”
“They know what’s going on and they care about the right things. I think it’s great that I’m in a city like that and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else going through this.”
Cunningham told Woj that he trusts head coach Monty Williams and knows they’re a young team.
“There’s a lot of things that give me hope in the organization. That’s on me to try and figure out on the court, me and coach.”
“It’s definitely made us have deep conversations. I think it’s a blessing in disguise, it’s been hard for both of us.”