Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham agreed on Tuesday to a deal that will keep him in the Motor City. And keep him very well paid.
Cunningham signed his max rookie deal with the Pistons, extending the former Oklahoma State standout’s contract for five years. According to reports, Cunningham’s extension is worth $224 million and could be worth as much as $269 million.
ESPN posted about the news, which was broken by their resident NBA insider, Adrian Wojnarowski.
Breaking: Cade Cunningham has agreed on a five-year, $224 million maximum rookie extension that could become worth as much as $269 million, his agents tell @wojespn. pic.twitter.com/34ZveiBAqC
— ESPN (@espn) July 9, 2024
In 138 career games, Cunningham’s averaged 20.0 points, 6.5 assists, and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 43.2 percent from the floor. Last season, in 62 games, Cunningham averaged 22.7 points and 7.5 assists per game. He averaged 4.3 rebounds per game and shot 44.9 percent from the floor, a career-high.
It’s been a dispiriting first few seasons for Cunningham with the Pistons. Detroit has been one of the worst teams in the league since he arrived and despite his talent, the team hasn’t moved forward. But Detroit still sees him as part of the solution, hence the hefty extension coming his way.
Cunningham will be one of the highest-paid players in the game after this extension. Given all the ways it can go wrong, good on him for sustaining himself to this point.
[ESPN]
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022