Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Cade Cunningham emerged as a superstar for the Pistons during the 2026 NBA Playoffs, carrying the team with elite scoring and playmaking.
- The Pistons must find a true co-star to pair with Cunningham, but recent reporting suggests targets like Lauri Markkanen and Trey Murphy III face significant obstacles.
- One veteran scorer stands out as the ideal running mate due to his scoring versatility, playoff experience, and local ties, but this move would require a major shift in Phoenix Suns' strategy.
If you followed the Detroit Pistons on their two-round journey through the 2026 NBA playoffs, two things should have become abundantly clear.
First: Cade Cunningham is a superstar, and the kind of player who can lead a well-constructed team to a championship. Through 14 postseason games, the All-NBA guard averaged a league-leading 28.1 PPG, 7.5 APG and 5.1 RPG on 57.2 percent true shooting (slightly above the league average) — all while being one of the Pistons' best defensive players and regularly being tasked with guarding high-level scorers like James Harden.
Second: Detroit desperately needs to find him a true co-star. When Cunningham was on the floor, the Pistons outscored teams by 2.3 points per 100 possessions; this doesn't sound overly impressive, but when you consider they were being outscored by 4.9 points per 100 when he was on the bench (which was not very long, since he led the postseason in minutes played), you see how much heavy lifting Detroit's favorite son was doing.
Okay, so the Pistons need to go out and get Cunningham a Robin to his Batman. But who should that player be?
Who should the Pistons pair with Cade Cunningham this offseason?
According to recent reporting from ESPN's Shams Charania, the Pistons are going to be targeting the likes of Lauri Markkanen and Trey Murphy III this offseason. I am fond of both of those players, and both would make the Pistons better. However, I am skeptical about them, each for different reasons.
For Markkanen, it makes little sense that the Utah Jazz would want to trade him at this point. After acquiring Jaren Jackson Jr., the Jazz seem to have enough between he, Markkanen, Ace Bailey, Walker Kessler, Keytone George, Isaiah Collier and whoever they use the second overall pick on this summer to finally be competitive in the Western Conference.
As for Murphy, he is huge (6-foot-8), a wicked good shooter and a burgeoning presence with the ball in his hands. My problem there is that he lacks the physicality that Detroit has become synonymous with over the last two years. He is definitely a good fit offensively, but you only get one real chance to get the perfect player next to Cunningham, and that is what the Pistons should strive for here.
That brings me to Devin Booker. He has been one of the most consistent scorers in the NBA in the 2020s, and he has the ability to do so with and without the basketball in his hands. He isn't as tall as Murphy (6-foot-5), but he is sturdier and much more battle-tested when it comes to postseason basketball. Booker has had his playoff shortcomings in the past, but he will get to take on a more consolidated role with Cunningham at the controls.
As for the Phoenix Suns, yes, they overperformed expectations this season. But even that only resulted in barely making the playoffs, followed by a resounding sweep at the hands of the Thunder. The West is only getting fiercer (just look at the Jazz), and it is hard to envision a world in which Phoenix gets meaningfully better this offseason. Booker isn't getting any younger (he turns 30 in October), and it would be wise for the Suns to get young assets for him while they still can.
His yearly salary is hefty: According to Spotrac, Booker will be making roughly 35 percent of the salary cap all the way through the rest of the decade. However, Cunningham will still be on his rookie super max (30 percent of the salary cap) until Booker's contract runs out. And as long as they avoid a disaster with Jalen Duren, the Pistons should be inexpensive everywhere else. Not to mention that Booker, who is from Grand Rapids, already has strong ties to the state.
Cunningham is going to be a top-10 player for years to come. Now, his team need sto be smart and find the right second star to pair him with.
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