Detroit Pistons star guard Cade Cunningham has been a long time coming.

He was selected No. 1 overall in the 2021 NBA Draft out of Oklahoma State and is currently in his fourth NBA season. But considering he lost most of Year 2 to a shin injury and subsequent surgery and has recently been playing with one of the worst teams in NBA history, it doesn’t seem like it.

It was easy to forget about the Pistons, so Cunningham was operating in limbo.

While he wasn’t perfect, he averaged 22.7 points, 7.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds last season (both career highs) on 44.9% shooting from the field and 35.5% from the line.

Cunningham did it last season, with little help from those around him, as the Pistons struggled to a 14-68 record.

They’re already 0-1 this season after Wednesday night’s loss to the Indiana Pacers, but there were some signs that this was a Detroit team that would improve a lot with a new coach in Trajan’s new general manager, JB Bickerstaff. A new cast of veteran characters surrounds Langon and Cunningham.

Of course, there’s also Cunningham, who has been training in the offseason, shooting and working out in the weight room.

He got off to a slow start in the first half against Indiana but exploded in the third quarter, scoring 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting. He finished the match with 28 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds in 37 minutes.

He still needs to strengthen his three-point shot a bit, but he showed off the talent that made him the No. 1 overall pick in the second half a few years ago; He could both attack the painted area and score goals whenever he wanted. “continues” his game.