With the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham.
With the 1st pick of the NBA Draft, the @DetroitPistons select @CadeCunningham_!
— NBA Draft (@NBADraft) July 30, 2021
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Cunningham averaged 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game in his freshman season at Oklahoma State. He was a consensus first-team All-American, and he was named both Big 12 Freshman of the Year and Big 12 Player of the Year.
NBA.com's draft expert Kyle Irving had Cunningham ranked No. 1 on his big board heading into the draft.
"Cunningham is a franchise-altering talent with elite playmaking skills," Irving wrote of the 19-year-old. "He commands the pace of the game as a jumbo guard who can score with ease from all three levels. A versatile defender with a high motor and a knack for making winning plays."
MORE: Scouting report on Cade Cunningham
The Pistons finished the 2020-21 season with a 20-52 record. Cunningham joins a young roster that features three first-round picks from the 2020 NBA Draft in Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey, as well as one of last season's breakout players in Jerami Grant, who finished second behind Julius Randle in Most Improved Player voting.
This was only the third time in franchise history that the Pistons have had the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. In 1967, they selected Jimmy Walker out of Providence. In 1970, they selected Bob Lanier out of St. Bonaventure.
The Pistons have three more picks in the 2021 NBA Draft, each of which is in the second round (No. 37, 42, 52), though the No. 37 pick could be on the move in a trade that sends Mason Plumlee to the Charlotte Hornets.
The views expressed here do not represent those of the NBA or its clubs.
