Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham is widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick on Thursday, and the Detroit Pistons are reportedly nearly set to take him first.
Cunningham said this week that he feels as though he should be the first player chosen in the NBA draft. He met with the Pistons last week in Detroit and does not expect to visit the Houston Rockets, barring a trade up from the second pick.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, speaking with Zach Lowe on their draft preview show, the Pistons have almost settled on Cunningham as their pick but still haven’t formally made that decision yet.
I think Detroit is getting there with Cade Cunningham as their choice but they haven’t formally made that decision yet. They had Jalen Suggs in for a workout, Jalen Green (as well). They would like to still see Evan Mobley (for a workout). They decided at the very beginning of this that we are going to do a process. We’re going to make sure we feel Cade Cunningham is the player. I think they will get there this week, not quite there yet.
Cunningham on Friday said he would love to join the Pistons and is excited to get to work in Detroit. He walked away from his meeting with the Pistons feeling great about his future and believes as though the organization will help his development early on.
While the Pistons have apparently not yet decided on Cunningham, the thought around the NBA is that it would still be rather shocking if any other goes first. The pairing between the two appears to be imminent and the All-American sounds excited to make the move to the Motor City.
He already enters next season projected to be able to make an immediate impact given his ability on both ends of the floor. With some help from the Pistons, and their development system, Cunningham could make an even bigger jump on the court soon enough.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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