Detroit Pistons: Could Cade Cunningham Make An All-Defensive Team?

With just under 10% of the regular season already under wraps, the Detroit Pistons have already announced that not much has changed from last year on a defensive standpoint. 

Although the Pistons were committed to improving their three-point shooting and traded away Isaiah Stewart, a noted defensive enforcer, Detroit has already risen to the top of the NBA on that side of the floor. Through eight games, the Pistons have the top defensive rating in the league, which shows that the importance of playing hard-nosed, physical basketball is part of the culture in the Motor City. 

In a way, the Pistons’ defensive culture and identity spans generations, and it certainly stretches across the current iteration of Motown hoopers. For instance, Pistons wing Ausar Thompson is already building a fairly robust trophy case for his defensive accomplishments after landing on the All-Defensive First Team. Looking at the 2025-26 campaign as a whole, Thompson won multiple Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month awards while finishing in third-place for the Defensive Player of the Year title while leading the NBA in steals, so Thompson’s defensive aptitude is widely agreed upon. 

But moving elsewhere in Detroit’s starting lineup, the team gains an ample amount of defensive flexibility by having Cade Cunningham on the floor alongside AT. Since Thompson frequently assumed on-ball duties for the opposing team’s primary playmaker, that means Cunningham shifts to guard a different position, which would typically create somewhat of a size mismatch with a point guard defending a wing player. But at 6-7 and 230 pounds, Cunningham has the ability to guard one through four with no problem, so the Pistons can cross-match and attack the other team’s primary scorers with much more flexibility. 

In terms of the counting stats, Cunningham is averaging 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks per game this season, so the All-Star floor general is putting in serious two-way work. Now in his sixth season as a pro, Cunningham is notorious for chasing down opponents in transition for massive last-second swats, and he’s one of the better rim-protecting point guards in the league. 

As a defender, Cunningham has the quickness to remain square with most primary initiators, but he also has the size required to impact shots near the bucket. Naturally, Cunningham does benefit from playing alongside Thompson, but the NBA is transitioning more and more towards a high-pace league with record-setting possession numbers that cover more ground on the court. Because of that reality, the Pistons need multiple players who can defend at the point-of-attack, which is where Cunningham’s value becomes widely apparent. 

While the All-Defensive Teams are often dominated by big men like Chet Holmgren, Rudy Gobert or Victor Wembanyama, Detroit’s floor general has the rare ability to remain an effective defender regardless of who he’s matched up with. Cade has the timing required to stuff attempts at the rim with the hand-speed necessary to pickpocket opposing point guards when they least expect it. 

Moving forward, Cunningham will lead the Pistons back into battle tomorrow night at home against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 6 pm.