Detroit Pistons: Is Cade Cunningham on a Minutes Restriction?

Why is Cade Cunningham playing fewer minutes than usual?

After battling a critical injury during his sophomore effort, Detroit Pistons' starter Cade Cunningham has been finding the balance between picking up significant minutes and taking it easy while maintaining an impact for his team while staying healthy. 

For the most part, Cunningham has been healthy this season. After making his season debut with the Pistons on October 25, Cunningham played in 36 consecutive games before missing his first matchup of the year on January 9.

Once Cunningham missed eight games in a row, Pistons head coach Monty Williams has been monitoring the former first-overall pick’s playing time to ensure he remains in tip-top shape down the stretch of the year.

Prior to the All-Star break, the Piston embarked on a five-game road trip. When they faced the Sacramento Kings for the first stop, Cunningham got the night off. On the second night of the back-to-back in Portland, Cunningham suited up for 39 minutes.

In the final three games before the break, the star guard averaged fewer than 29 minutes on the floor. While he saw a slight increase in playing time during the first two games back from the break, Cunningham still saw playing time under his minutes per game average for the season. Considering he was on Detroit’s injury report leading up to the break, one might assume there could be a minutes restriction in play.

Recently, Monty Williams explained the thought process behind Cunningham’s minutes moving forward.

“We’re trying to manage some things with him as we ramp him up to get ready to play the normal 35 to 38 minutes,” said the head coach. “I wouldn’t call it a restriction. It’s more of a management.”

Reflecting on the approach of Cunningham’s playing time from earlier in the year, Williams believes Cunningham might benefit more from easing back into his usual everyday role.

“We’re just trying to build him up the right way,” he explained. “Earlier in the season, I was playing him 28-32-45. That’s where you run into some of the load issues, especially with him coming off his injury from last year.”

Cunningham and the Pistons return to the court to face the Knicks on Monday night at 7 PM ET. The star guard is off the injury report and is slated to appear in his seventh-straight game.