The Detroit Pistons have an update on Cade Cunningham’s devastating lung injury, and it isn’t positive.
The mercurial guard and Detroit’s offensive engine will be sidelined for two weeks at a minimum, after which he will be evaluated. In the meantime, NBA analysts estimated the time Cunningham could miss as he recovers from the setback.
Cade Cunningham Injury Timeline: NBA Analysts Weigh In
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) in the aftermath of the gruesome injury to Cunningham, NBA insiders and analysts reported on the potential timeline for the Pistons superstar’s return.
According to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, the absence would range from three to six weeks. “CJ McCollum has dealt with this a couple of times in the past, missing three weeks in 2023 and six weeks in 2021,” he said.
“Three weeks from today would be heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Six weeks from today would be near the end of the first round of the playoffs.”
Yahoo Sports’ Tom Haberstroh cited Terrence Jones as an example. In this case, the recovery window was a lot more optimistic. “He returned to the starting lineup just seven games later and played well in the playoffs. Hope for a similar trajectory w/ Cade,” he said.
RotoWire’s Jeff Stotts believed Cunningham could miss between 10 and 11 games. “Cade Cunningham Injury Update: A pneumothorax (collapsed lung) is much more common in contact sports like the NFL, but there have been several cases in the NBA, including Gerald Wallace, CJ McCollum (2x), & Terrence Jones. Average time lost? 26 days (~10.8 games).”
According to league insider Shams Charania, the All-Star guard will “miss an extended period of time with a collapsed lung.”
All signs point to an extended absence for the guard. This comes as bad news for the playoff-bound Pistons, who have relied heavily on Cunningham’s high-IQ play and efficient scoring. Without him in the mix, the onus now falls on the backup options, Marcus Sasser and Caris LeVert.
The 24-year-old is averaging 24.5 points and 9.9 assists this season, and his dimes per game rank among the league leaders. At the time of writing, Cunningham has played 61 games, putting him just four games short of the 65-game mark required for any award honors such as NBA MVP, DPOY, and All-NBA teams.
Cunningham’s NBA MVP run took a massive hit after his solid season helped the Pistons become the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Despite his injury, the team chalked up a 130-117 win and sits atop the standings with a 49-19 record. Up next, they play the Wizards again.
The Pistons have 14 regular-season games before the start of the playoffs and will hope that Cunningham’s recovery is good enough for him to return to the postseason at some point.
