Detroit Pistons Reveal New Cade Cunningham Injury Diagnosis

The Detroit Pistons could be without Cade Cunningham once again on Thursday.

Mar 17, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) dribbles defended / Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Although the Detroit Pistons shut down a handful of players throughout the final weeks of the 2023-2024 NBA season, the team hasn’t made a similar call on the star guard, Cade Cunningham.

Lately, Cunningham has been off the floor due to a setback with his knee. On the injury report, the Pistons have described the reasoning for his absences as knee injury management.

At the start of the month, Cunningham appeared in his third-straight game during an April 1 matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies. Cunningham checked in for 34 minutes, scoring 36 points, four rebounds, and eight assists.

Ahead of the Pistons’ April 3 matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, Cunningham was questionable to play. While the Pistons have left the door open for his potential return in most matchups since, an absence for Detroit’s Tuesday night game against the Philadelphia 76ers resulted in Cunningham’s fourth-straight game spent on the bench.

Going into their Thursday night game against the Chicago Bulls, the Pistons once again listed Cunningham as questionable. This time around, it appears Cunningham is dealing with a different diagnosis.

According to the injury report, Cunningham is dealing with a knee Tendinopathy on his left knee. Considering the door is left open for Cunningham to potentially return to the court on Thursday, it seems his setback is not severe.

However, the Pistons are playing it safe. Being that Cunningham has an injury history and is viewed as the face of the franchise going into the 2024 offseason, making sure he’s healthy long-term is the right play, especially since the Pistons aren’t playing for anything meaningful down the stretch.

After the matchup against the Bulls, the Pistons have just two games left. They’ll pay a visit to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night to complete a back-to-back set. After getting the day off on Saturday, Detroit will close out its season against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

Pistons head coach Monty Williams recently made it clear that the plan is to see Cunningham compete again this season. With a different injury diagnosis in play, it’s unclear if that opportunity will come.