After almost a year of the Detroit Pistons' "bench Cade," followed — miraculously! - Won the NBA draft draw and, in the end, selected Cade Cunningham with the first pick.
At the start of the 2021-22 season, everyone is ready to go... Wait, where did CapitaLand come from? Oh, that's right, after an ankle sprain early in the camp, the team's future looks like it is recovering. He made his debut Saturday against Orlando after missing four games in preseason and regular season.
Cunningham is the sixth point guard to play since 1985 (the beginning of the Lotto draft era) (and the third point guard in the Pistons' career). So what can we expect from Cunningham's debut and first season? Here's how his previous five point guards performed.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" >2017-18: Markle Fultz, 76</h1>
College years: After completing his senior season in Washington, D.C., as the No. 5 reserve rookie (Detroit's Josh Jackson ranked first), Fultz headed west... Head to Washington and surprise everyone. There, he dominated the Pac-12 game, averaging 23.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. He played only 25 games because of a knee injury and a poor huskies that prevented them from playing in the playoffs.
Game One: After a shoulder injury prevented him from playing in the 76ers' preseason rotation, Fultz was fit enough to play in the season opener — mostly. In the loss to the Washington Wizards, he played less than 18 minutes, averaging 5-of-9 shooting and finishing with 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block.
Season one: It got worse — worse — Fultz played three more games, scoring 14 points in 58 minutes before the 76ers admitted he was injured. This time, it was a shoulder injury that the team blamed on a change in his shooting skills. He then missed 68 games before returning in late March, although he didn't show up at the time. In the last 10 games of the season, Fultz averaged 17.7 minutes per game, with 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists. He shot 42.9 percent from the field, but only tried one three-pointer (missed), and a year later he shot 41.3 percent (126 attempts) from three-point range during college.
Consequences: The shoulder injury was eventually diagnosed with thoracic exit syndrome in Year 2, leaving Fultz to play another 63 games – although many believe his struggles are related to mental factors. In 19 games against Philadelphia at the start of the season, he averaged 8.2 points, 3.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 22.5 minutes per game, but that wasn't enough to stop the championship-chasing 76ers from trading him to the Magic in February 2019. Fultz finally recovered to health in 2019-20, even though his shooting status didn't fully recover; he averaged 12.1 points per game in 27.7 minutes and shot 46.5 percent — but he shot just 26.7 percent from three-point range on two shots per game. Bad luck struck again in January 2021, when his anterior cruciate ligament tore eight games into a season postponed due to COVID-19.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="16" > 2011-12: Kyrie Owen, Cavaliers</h1>
College years: McDonald's All-American player in high school, Irving's lonely year at Duke university did not disappoint, averaging 17.5 points, 4.3 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, although he only played 11 times due to a toe injury.
Game 1: The day after Christmas, Irving's shots felt cold — a labor dispute delayed the start of the season — as he hit just two of his 12 shots in a loss to the Toronto Raptors, scoring 6 points and seven assists.
First season: Irving recovered quickly, starting his second game against the Pistons, where he had 14 points (5-of-9 shooting) and 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. He was honored As Rookie of the Year and was nominated for First Team Rookie of the Year after averaging 18.5 points, 5.4 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Consequences: Irving was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star Team in Year 2, the first of six ASG seats in seven seasons. In 8 of his 10 seasons, he averaged at least 20 points per game. In August 2017, he left the Cavaliers for Boston in a sensational deal, but was there for only two seasons — including a promise to re-sign with the Celtics, which he later withdrew — before heading to Brooklyn to try to build a super team with Kevin Durant in 2019. (Right now, he hasn't made his 2021-22 debut in Brooklyn because he refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine.) ）
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="22" >2010-11: John Wall, Wizard</h1>
College: Wall excelled at the SEC, averaging 16.6 points, 6.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 37 games, while Kentucky reached the elite quarterfinals.
Game One: A bad Wizards needed Wall to shoot, so he shot: 19 attempts, more than any of his two teammates combined. Unfortunately for Washington, Wall made just six shots on the free throw line and 2-of-3 at night to score 14 points in the game with a 29-point loss to the Magic. (Wall also had nine assists and three steals.) ）
Season one: He's still a great scorer — 14.1 shots and an average of 16.4 points per game — and if he's not a very efficient scorer, he's shooting 40.9 percent from the field, compared to just 29.6 percent from outside the three-point line. Still, he got his teammates involved, averaging 8.3 assists per game and being named the first-team rookie of the best.
Consequences: Wall continued to work on 7.1 percent shooting in Year 2 (albeit only 42), especially on three-pointers, making five consecutive All-Star titles in his fourth year, averaging 19.9 points, 9.9 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game in 2014-18. In that game, he agreed to a four-year extension with the Wizards, worth $170 million, a contract that began in 2018-19 — shortening the game time due to a heel injury, limiting him to 32 games, before suffering a rupture in his home Achilles tendon that invalidated his 2019-20 season. Washington sent him to Houston in exchange for Russell Westbrook in an attempt to get out of the contract.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="28" >2008-09: Derek Rose, Bull</h1>
College: The Chicago native made the most of his year in Memphis, averaging 14.9 points, 4.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 40 games as the Tigers made their way to the national championship (although runner-up - the final result was later cancelled due to Rose cheating on his SAT test).
Game 1: Rose's debut against the Bucks wasn't a brilliant one, with 3-of-9 shooting at night. But when the Bulls beat Milwaukee by 13 points, he made five of his seven free throws and added nine assists, three steals and four rebounds.
Season 1: Rose also had plenty of offense, averaging 14.9 shots per game and shooting 47.5 percent from the field. (However, he struggled with the longer three-point line, shooting 22.2 percent as a rookie after shooting 33.7 percent in college.) Still, his 16.8 points per game, as well as 6.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds, put him in the first-team rookie lineup and the playoff Bulls. He was named Rookie of the Year.
Consequences: Rose became an All-Star in his second season, NBA MVP in his third, and leader of the Eastern Conference's top seed in his fourth season. But that was shattered by the Bulls' anterior cruciate ligament injury in the 2012 playoffs opening game. Rose missed the entire following season and played only 10 games in the year since. After returning from injury, Rose played for the Knicks, Cavaliers, Timberwolves and Pistons, making 65 appearances in Detroit, averaging 17.2 points and 5.2 assists per game.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="33" > 1996-97: Iverson, 76</h1>
College years: Iverson spent two seasons in Georgetown destroying the Great East, averaging 23 points, 4.6 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 3.2 steals in 67 games against Hoas, including the sweet round of 16 and elite quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
First Game: AI achieved great things in Philadelphia in just one game: He contributed 30 points (12-of-19) and six assists for the Bucks in his debut, even though the 76ers lost eight times.
First Season: His rookie season was one of two seasons in Which Iverson averaged fewer than 20 shots per game in two seasons at Philadelphia; he averaged 19.8 minutes per game — 40.1 minutes per game — with 23.5 points, 7.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals, making him the rookie of the year first team and rookie of the year honor.
Consequences: Although his time in Philadelphia was not without controversy—" We were talking about practice. Not a game. Not a game. — Iverson led the 76ers deep into the playoffs, including three wins to win the NBA championship in 2001. Iverson ended his career with 26.7 points, 6.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. He was named to the All-Star Game in his final 11 seasons, including the 2008–09 season, when he averaged 17.4 points in 50 games for the Pistons. Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016, even if Iverson came to Detroit, it wasn't surprising to Iverson: "Throughout my 13-year career, I've always looked in the mirror after the game and been happy with my efforts because I knew I was going to do my best to win," he said. "Having a team like that and getting to the Eastern Conference Finals for six consecutive years, that's what makes up this team. Those guys gave everything day and night. With me on this list, it will continue like this. ”