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Stare at one object interminably, eyes cross and perspective becomes badly skewed. It helps to get someone else’s opinion. If you’ve been fixated on Cade Cunningham since the moment the Pistons won the lottery last June, maybe you wonder what others see as his rookie year unfolds.

Well, here’s one relevant perspective: “Cade Cunningham, what a helluva player,” Denver coach Mike Malone said after the rookie nearly took down his team Tuesday night. “Had a game tonight. Showed you why he was such a high pick – scoring, rebounding, playmaking. That kid’s future is very, very bright. They got a special one here in Detroit.”

And that’s a guy who coaches the reigning MVP, Nikola Jokic, so Malone knows what special looks like.

That it was surprising but not shocking to see Cunningham trade blows with Jokic as if they were peers in Tuesday’s eventual 110-105 Denver win at Little Caesars Arena speaks volumes about how quickly the Pistons rookie has skipped rungs on the NBA ladder.

Cunningham doesn’t really have to pinch himself to believe it was him doing that – going toe to toe with an MVP – and that’s a window into why the Pistons settled on him when they won the lottery. There’s an air of supreme self-confidence about Cunningham that somehow never verges into arrogance or delusion.

“I’ve imagined these moments so much that I don’t feel out of place whenever I’m out there,” he said Tuesday after arguably his best game – and that it’s not conclusively his best is the reason why he’s gaining steam in the Rookie of the Year race after ceding early momentum to Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes while recovering from the early-season ankle injury. “Nothing feels fake to me. Just being in the moment after dreaming about it for so long.”

Seems like not a week goes by where Cunningham doesn’t have a game that unearths some startling comparison. From Tuesday’s game, we got this: He became the second NBA rookie ever to put up at least 34 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and four blocked shots in a game. The other? Some guy named Jordan. The list of players, rookie or otherwise, who did all that and also registered two steals? Cade Cunningham. That’s the list.

There’s a lot that hasn’t gone right for the Pistons this year, starting with the injuries that knocked out their two most accomplished NBA players, Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk, for long stretches. But even if the list of what went right at season’s end only contained one item – and it won’t – then as long as that item is “Cade Cunningham has proven himself a worthy No. 1 pick,” all is well with the Pistons, now and for many tomorrows.

Remember when Troy Weaver was pressed on his winnowing process last July after the pick was made?

“His versatility, the leadership, the connectability was what really separated him,” the Pistons general manager said. “He’s a human connector – on the floor, off the floor.”

To translate that into something a little more tangible now that the evidence is coming in, here’s what Cunningham said Tuesday night when asked what pleased him most about his first season in the NBA to date.

“I’m happy with how much my teammates trust me with the ball more than anything. They want me to make plays for us. They want me to be aggressive. And I’ve worked really hard to get where I’m at in basketball, so to have guys trust me with the ball and trust the work I put in means a lot to me.”

A lot to unpack there. It’s a great response, to be sure. But it’s a better response if it’s from a place of sincerity and, by all objective interpretations, it is. It’s at the heart of what Weaver kept hearing about Cunningham as he sought the answer to which of the bevy of potential face-of-the-franchise prospects was the right one to take for the Pistons at No. 1. Cunningham didn’t just have the talent to be an NBA team’s best player, he had the necessary stew of qualities to make a forceful and effective leader.

Him saying “to have the guys trust me with the ball and trust the work I put in means a lot to me” screams with the promise of a superstar in the making who knows a great leader can’t lead without willing followers.

It also speaks to Cunningham’s comfort at being in the glare. Sometimes – more often than you could imagine – that’s not the case with the most talented players. The spotlight comes with equal parts adulation and criticism. A healthy percentage of superstar-level talents only are interested in half of that equation.

It’s rare enough when elite talent pairs with unvarnished ambition. When it’s rounded out by basketball IQ, genuine leadership skills and keen self-awareness, you’ve got the recipe for greatness. Mike Malone is on the nose. There’s a special one here in Detroit.

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There’s ‘a special one here in Detroit’ and Cade Cunningham is just getting started

Cade Cunningham’s Rookie of the Year drive, draft chatter and, of course, a look ahead to the February trade deadline get us going in this week’s edition of Pistons Mailbag.

Phil (Auburn Hills, Mich.): What’s going on with our rookies? It looks like Jamorko Pickett has been called up from the G League last week but hasn’t played a single minute, Luka Garza hasn’t played in a single G League or NBA game for over a week and Isaiah Livers hasn’t seen any court since December. Is the plan to move on from these guys? If not, I would expect them to get some consistent minutes on either our team or the Cruise.

@fatimaelmoukahal/IG: What’s up with Isaiah Livers? Does he have another injury?

Langlois: We’ll take these two as an entry. The Pistons shuttle players back and forth as a matter of routine to take full use of their ability to do so now that moving their G League affiliate to Detroit – the Motor City Cruise – makes it possible and advantageous. Garza’s inactivity is because he was in NBA health and safety protocols, but he’s since exited and played on Monday for the Cruise, as did Pickett. Garza was back and in uniform with the Pistons on Tuesday. Livers is close to a return. The foot on which he had surgery last spring started causing him some pain and, Dwane Casey said this week, they’ve fitted him with orthotics. “He took some time off, had some soreness,” Casey said. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but I think he’s getting close to coming back.” That seems to indicate that the pain did not indicate a re-injury. General manager Troy Weaver also mentioned Livers nearing a return when he appeared on the Bally Sports Detroit telecast of Monday’s Cruise game.

Cade Cunningham Enthusiast (@PTP_99): Are there any teams that Jerami Grant seems more likely to land with than others or still up in the air?

Langlois: I think the team he’s likeliest to land with come Feb. 11 – the day after the trade deadline is … the Detroit Pistons. Far and away, that’s the single likeliest team that will be issuing his checks over what remains of the 2021-22 season past the trade deadline. I don’t know that it’s even 50-50 he’ll be traded, but even if it goes that high, that still means there’s a 50 percent likelihood he’ll be a Piston after the deadline and whichever team is in second place – your guess is as good as mine – wouldn’t come close to claiming the other 50 percent of outcomes. The list of teams that have been reported to have had some contact with the Pistons regarding Grant or hold interest in him is long and winding and includes Washington, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah, Portland, Memphis and, I’m sure, a few I’m not mentioning. If Ben Simmons is the focal point of the trade deadline, Grant is at his shoulder. But I maintain that the Pistons do not nor should not feel compelled to trade him. If the Pistons feel like adding another high to mid-lottery pick on top of a year’s worth of maturity for Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart, Killian Hayes, et al, plus what they project they can add with the cap space they’ll have this off-season – somewhere a bit north of $20 million, accounting for the cap hold for the No. 1 pick – puts them within reach of making some noise in the Eastern Conference, then they might wonder if a year from now at the 2023 trade deadline if they’ll be in the market for a player just like Jerami Grant. You can make a pretty strong case that keeping him and extending him puts the Pistons on a surer path to meaningful contention than dealing him for parts and pieces might. But I’m not Troy Weaver and I don’t know the substance of the offers that might be forthcoming over the next 15 days.

Adam (St. Petersburg, Fla.): If the Pistons get a top-three pick, which of the three big guys do you think is the best fit with Cade Cunningham and the rest of the young core?

Langlois: I will defer a definitive pronouncement on the fit of those three big guys – and I’ll presume you’re talking about Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero – with Cunningham and the remainder of the young core to the guys who devote the bulk of their days to studying such things. But it seems to me that all of those guys would work not only with Cunningham but with Isaiah Stewart. The caveat here is that I still don’t think “fit” is going to be very high on the list for Troy Weaver when he goes about exercising his first-round pick this June. It’s still about accumulating the most talent and making sure you spend a premium pick on the guy who’s going to turn out to be the best NBA player. Smith’s shooting ability would surely be great with Cunningham. Banchero’s scoring versatility, even if he’s not yet certain to be a consistent 3-point shooter, playmaking potential and all-around IQ would also fit like a glove with Cunningham. Holmgren might be a little more raw offensively, but a 7-footer with the ballhandling and projectable shooting range he flashes in combination with his elite defensive potential also would be a fit with pretty much any team. They all would work with Stewart. And Cunningham’s vision and court sense would draw out the best in those players. I don’t see a scenario where the Pistons would get a top-three pick and say, well, we’ll be OK if we get this guy but not those two or get those two but not the other one. They’d all work from my standpoint.

Al (Wolverine Lake, Mich.): How do you handicap Cade Cunningham’s Rookie of the Year odds now?

Langlois: They’re certainly on the rise. Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes got a head start on him and Franz Wagner has been really good. Mobley probably remains the betting favorite at this point because not only has he been terrific but it’s contributed to unexpected team success. But Cunningham is stringing together some head-turning games and that’s the sort of thing that travels around the league and breaks through even against the record the Pistons own. Here’s what Nuggets coach Mike Malone said after Tuesday’s game in which Cunningham posted 34 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, four blocked shots and two steals: “Cade Cunningham, what a helluva player. Had a game tonight. Showed you why he was such a high pick – scoring, rebounding, playmaking. That kid’s future is very, very bright. They got a special one here in Detroit.” Cunningham has 35 games remaining to close the gap between him and Mobley, who I think is the front-runner now and is the only one who can stand between Cunningham and ROY when it’s all said and done.

Langlois: Most players who get ejected are tossed for picking up their second technical foul – that was the case with Cade Cunningham when he was ejected in the Jan. 16 game with Phoenix – or because they were assessed a flagrant-two. Both are automatic ejections. There is almost zero chance a coach can intercede to prevent either one, though sometimes what you’re suggesting almost certainly prevents a second technical from being assessed due to a vehement reaction to being assessed the first technical. In the specific case of Cunningham on Jan. 16, there is nothing Dwane Casey or anyone could have done short of jumping on Cunningham’s back as he hit the ground after dunking – and before he pointed in the general direction of the defender he’d just dunked on but also in a direct line with the Pistons bench, to which Cunningham says he was pointing in appreciation of his friends and family behind the bench. Baseball ejections happen like a boiling teapot – there is almost always time to turn the temperature down before it blows. Not so in basketball. A player does something and is immediately assessed a technical foul. One doesn’t get you ejected, but a second one does – and there’s almost never a chance to steer a player away from that in time. Players sometimes can intercede. That, in fact, happened in Tuesday night’s second quarter when Cunningham jumped in front of Josh Jackson – not in time to prevent a first technical, but perhaps saving him from a second and ejection. Alas, a few minutes later, with Jackson on the bench, he said something that earned him the second technical and ejection. Unless Casey could have teleported himself from his seat at one end of the bench to Jackson on the other as Jackson was forming the words that earned him the second technical, there’s nothing he could have done to prevent what unfolded.

Lou (Indio, Calif.): I read online that Jerami Grant, Saddiq Bey and Kelly Olynyk were all offered for Ben Simmons. Plus, we threw in a first-round pick. What an awful move for the Pistons.

Langlois: And if you read it online, it must be true! Seriously, take all such reports not with a grain but with a Pacific Ocean full of salt. Think about which party benefits from the reports of such rumors. Surely not the Pistons. But the 76ers keep the prevailing sentiment alive that they’re holding out for an absolute haul when it’s asserted that they were the party to turn down what seems a generous offer. Be extraordinarily skeptical of that report. The Pistons don’t even have a first-round pick to offer at the moment because of the protections on the pick they sent to Houston in the deal for the 16th pick of 2020 they used on Isaiah Stewart, a pick now in the hands of Oklahoma City. The Pistons would have to amend the protections on that pick more favorably in order to have one to deal before 2027. The Pistons are not in a position at this point to be lifting protections on draft picks that would have them handing over a lottery pick, potentially.

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Pistons Mailbag – WEDNESDAY, Jan. 26

Nikola Jokic was a 20-year-old rookie six years ago and how do you not dream about where Cade Cunningham and the Pistons might be in 2028 after watching the reigning MVP and the potential Rookie of the Year go moment for dazzling moment on a mid-winter night at Little Caesars Arena?

If Jokic’s ridiculous line from Tuesday’s 110-105 Pistons loss to Denver – 28 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists – gives him momentum for a repeat MVP bid, then Cunningham’s equally preposterous numbers – a career-best 34 points plus eight rebounds, eight assists, four blocked shots and two steals – surely pushes him closer to the front of the Rookie of the Year chase.

If you think it’s a little crazy to think that Cunningham was matching heavyweight blows with the NBA’s MVP – a guy who averaged 10 points a game when he was that 20-year-old rookie – well, so does Cunningham. But only sort of.

“It’s definitely surreal,” he said. “I’ve imagined those moments so much that I don’t feel out of place whenever I’m out there. Nothing feels fake to me. Just being in the moment after dreaming about it for so long. I’m proud of myself for putting myself in this position and I’m just happy to be here playing the game I love.”

Cunningham hit 6 of 9 3-point shots, giving him six games with five or more triples made this season – the most for any player in NBA history through his first 38 career games. He’s come a long way from the kid who missed his first 18 threes. Take those away and Cunningham is hitting 36.1 percent from the 3-point line – and climbing.

“When he does that, it opens up the floor. Now it opens up his driving game,” Dwane Casey said of Cunningham, averaging 16.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists. “That’s one area that’s really improved with Cade is his 3-point shooting and I firmly believe it’s contagious. I think that’s what happened with all of our guys starting out the game.”

Cunningham drained three triples in an 82-second span of an electric first quarter that had Little Caesars hopping. One of them, a step-back triple off a crossover, had Jokic reeling.

“It’s awesome,” Frank Jackson said of the home crowd in his first game since spraining his ankle Dec. 29 and then contracting COVID-19 while he was rehabilitating. “When we play with a little fight and grit, this city gets riled up.”

Jackson’s return gives Casey’s second unit a jolt for his 3-point shooting and penchant for heating up in a hurry.

“The way he came in today, it felt like he hadn’t missed any time,” Cunningham said after Jackson contributed 11 points in 14 minutes. “To have him back is going to be a big help. He’s a huge piece for us.”

The Pistons are hopeful they’ll be whole soon with Kelly Olynyk, who returned from a 33-game injury absence last week only to enter NBA health and safety protocols, and Jerami Grant nearing their return. They’ve won more games in January (six) than they did in the 2021 portion of the schedule (five) and are poised to gather some momentum heading into a 2022-23 season that could be a pivotal year in general manager Troy Weaver’s restoration.

That starts with Cunningham building off the eye-opening results he’s generating with increasing frequency. The 34 points topped his previous career best of 29 from … two weeks ago.

“He’s a gamer,” Casey said. “He’s going to the basket and not getting the whistle” – Cunningham, amazingly enough, didn’t shoot a single free throw in 40 minutes. “I feel for him. He’s going in there, getting hit and not getting those calls. But he’s got to keep attacking and using his size and length.”

Cunningham became the sixth Pistons rookie to ever put up at least 30 points, five rebounds and five assists, joining a group that includes Dave Bing, Grant Hill, Isiah Thomas, Greg Kelser and Kelly Tripucka. He’s the only rookie to have that line in the NBA this season. That it didn’t add up to a win speaks to the brilliance of Jokic.

Jokic, a 26-year-old center from Serbia, and Cunningham, a 20-year-old guard from the United States, have one overriding trait that gives them more in common than their surface differences: They’re basketball geniuses. They truly defy positional pigeon-holing. And such players are the rare breed that give life to the cliché of a player who makes everyone surrounding him better.

“He’s going to continue to ball and do his thing,” Jackson said. “It’s fun to watch him grow this year. It’s a blessing to play beside him.”

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Cade gives Pistons fans a night to dream on in loss to Denver

Led by Nikola Jokics 28 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists, the Nuggets defeated the Pistons, 110-105. Cade Cunningham tallied a career-high 34 points (6-9 3pt FG), along with eight rebounds, eight assists and four blocks for the Pistons in the losing effort. The Nuggets improve to 25-21 on the season, while the Pistons fall to 11-36.

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Game Recap: Nuggets 110, Pistons 105

Three quick observations from Tuesday night’s 110-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Little Caesars Arena

STAR VS. STAR – Nikola Jokic is the reigning MVP, has a compelling case to repeat and used the game’s first 10 minutes to make that case to the Little Caesars Arena crowd. They probably would have cast their ballots for Cade Cunningham instead. The once and future (?) MVPs put together brilliant first quarters on their way to superb games, one that probably does more for Cunningham’s Rookie of the Year consideration than Jokic’s repeat MVP bid. Cunningham established a new career high with 34 points while also contributing eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and four blocked shots. Cunningham missed his first shot of the game, a paint jumper that rimmed out, but then hit his next five – including three from the 3-point arc, the last one a nasty crossover, step-back number that put Jokic on skates – and checked out with a minute left in the quarter and 13 points, two rebounds and three assists on his stat line. He added 10 more points in the third quarter and had nine in the fourth. Jokic put up 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 10 minutes of the first quarter on his way to 28 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists. It was the sixth game this season in which Cunningham made at least five 3-point shots, giving the most such games in NBA history through the first 38 career games. Denver finished with a 56-36 rebounding edge, the Pistons with a whopping 38-7 advantage in points off turnovers.

WELCOME BACK – Frank Jackson returned after missing nearly four weeks, first with an ankle injury, then entering health and safety protocols and more recently in reconditioning from the illness. Jackson had solidified himself as the scoring anchor of the bench unit when he went down on Dec. 29, averaging 10.7 points in 22 minutes a game and giving the Pistons the type of volume 3-point shooting that commands a defense’s attention. Jackson checked in for Cade Cunningham with a minute left in the first quarter and looked like he’d not missed a day, draining a 3-pointer from the right wing on his first touch. He missed his four other triples, but Jackson still managed 11 points on 5 of 11 shooting in 14 minutes. With Jackson back, the second unit consisted of Killian Hayes, Trey Lyles, Rodney McGruder, Josh Jackson and Frank Jackson. Josh Jackson was tossed in the second quarter, though, when he picked up two technical fouls. The second came after he’s been taken out of the game and was seated on the Pistons bench.

FOULS APLENTY – The Pistons have seen a sudden spike in foul issues, averaging nearly 24.5 a game over their past six and coming off a season-high 29 in Sunday’s loss at Denver. They again had issues in Tuesday’s return match, picking up 14 in the first half when three players – Cory Joseph, Isaiah Stewart and Cade Cunningham – all picked up three and Denver outscored the Pistons 17-8 at the line on 20 attempts. The Pistons finished with 25 fouls and Denver hit 26 of 31 free throws. The Pistons then put Denver in the bonus four minutes into the third quarter, but they picked up just one foul in the fourth quarter until fouling intentionally three times in the final 15 seconds. The Pistons, who average 21.2 fouls a game, haven’t had a game with fewer than 20 fouls since they were called for 14 in a Jan. 6 game at Memphis. Dwane Casey’s Toronto teams were known for physical play and that’s the tone he’s trying to establish with the Pistons, too, and young teams need to find their equilibrium in playing that style while not picking up cheap fouls. “We’re doing some unnecessary fouling,” Casey said before Tuesday’s game. “We’re coming down (with arms) when we should be going up vertical. The cheap ones, the ones we can control, that and our turnovers, that’s breaking our back.” Opponents averaged 29 foul shots over the previous six games.

Pistons.com

There’s ‘a special one here in Detroit’ and Cade Cunningham is just getting started

Pistons Mailbag – WEDNESDAY, Jan. 26

Cade gives Pistons fans a night to dream on in loss to Denver

Game Recap: Nuggets 110, Pistons 105

Denver prevails despite Cade’s dazzling night

Nikola Jokic (28 points) Highlights vs. Detroit Pistons

Photos: Pistons 105, Nuggets 110

Cunningham hustles back to swat Gordon's layup attempt