Detroit Pistons President Reacts to Cade Cunningham’s Major Extension

Trajan Langdon addresses the Detroit Pistons' decision to extend Cade Cunningham.

Mar 29, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) looks on during the third quarter against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-USA TODAY Sports / Reggie Hildred-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Pistons haven’t found a ton of luck when it comes to the NBA Lottery as they’ve embarked on a rebuild for several seasons. Fortunately, they haven’t come up totally empty-handed with landing the first-overall pick. In 2021, the Pistons won the lottery and spent their pick on the consensus top selection, Cade Cunningham.

Recently, the Pistons confirmed they are still all in on their investment as they locked Cunningham up with a major extension.

With a five-year extension officially done, Cunningham is expected to make at least $224 million over that period. Garnering a contract like that solidifies Cunningham as a true cornerstone player for the Detroit franchise.

While there wasn’t too much doubt about Cunningham’s status with the Pistons heading into the offseason, some major management changes could’ve created a different scenario that nobody expected.

Former Pistons General Manager Troy Weaver lost control of having final say on roster moves. As the Pistons hired Trajan Langdon from the New Orleans Pelicans to become the President of Basketball Operations, a new captain in the front office meant that anything could happen.

Major changes came to life. Weaver was out as the GM, and Monty Williams was let go as the head coach after just one season. As for Cunningham, he was reassured, despite the fact that Langdon admittedly didn’t get to watch too much of Cunningham’s game beyond the NCAA.

“I watched him a lot when he was at Oklahoma State,” Langdon said during a recent Summer League broadcast. “To be honest, I was concerned with our team at NOLA. I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention to Detroit.”

It didn’t take long for Langdon to get acquainted with the Pistons’ top player and become sold on his status.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations since taking the job,” the President of Basketball Ops added. “This is the place where he wants to be. Obviously, we’re excited about him signing the extension kind of recently. He wants to be a leader here and take Detroit basketball back to where it’s been in the past. He’s been frustrated for the last couple of seasons with the amount of losing we’ve done. He wants to be a huge key in turning this thing around, and he wants to do that with us.”

Heading into year four, the Pistons have spent the 2024 offseason getting the right pieces around Cunningham, adding proven veteran talent.

With Cunningham certain he’ll be around for the long haul, he can put all of his focus into crafting another career-year, while looking to take the Pistons in the right direction.

As an organization, the Pistons saw franchise lows in 2023-2024, winning just 14 games. As for Cunningham, he wrapped up the season with a career-best effort from a production standpoint. In 62 games, Cunningham averaged 23 points, four rebounds, and eight assists. He knocked down 45 percent of his field goals, hit on 36 percent of his shots from beyond the arc, and averaged 87 percent of his shots from the charity stripe.

Year four will be major for Cunningham, as Langdon and the Pistons invested big in his efforts.

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