Pistons ponder Cunningham with top pick in NBA Draft

NEW YORK – Teen playmaker Cade Cunningham is seen as a likely top pick in Thursday's NBA Draft (Friday, Manila time), but the team with the first choice is keeping quiet about plans for the selection.

Cunningham, a 19-year-old point guard, averaged 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.6 steals a game for Oklahoma State last season.

That's after helping spark a 2019 US triumph in the Under-19 Basketball World Cup.

Now he's drawing comparisons to Slovenian star Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the NBA's annual allocation of new talent to clubs.

"I don't like comparing myself to players around my age," Cunningham said. "I hear a lot of Luka comparisons, which, I can see it, but next year we're going to be playing against each other."

Cunningham sees himself in bigger NBA backcourt talents such as Jason Kidd, Penny Hardaway and Magic Johnson.

"I try to take what I can from each one of those guys," Cunningham said.

Whether the Pistons will take Cunningham when they can, however, is another question.

"Everybody has made the pick but us," Pistons general manager Troy Weaver said. "But we're going to continue to do our work, turn over every stone and land where we're going to land. We're confident in our work and we're enjoying the process."

The Houston Rockets, who had the NBA's worst record at 17-55 last season, own the second pick in the draft followed in order by Cleveland, Toronto, Orlando, Oklahoma City, Golden State and Orlando again.

Scouting reports see Jalen Green and Evan Mobley as the two top prospects behind Cunningham.

Green, 19, was a shooting guard with Cunningham on the 2019 Under-19 world champions, averaging 10.1 points as the youngest member of the squad, who averaged 17.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists a game last season for the Ignite prospects team in the G-League, the NBA's top development circuit.

Mobley, 20, is a 7-foot power forward who averaged 16.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists a game at the University of Southern California last season after a stint on the world under-19 champions from 2019.

'Some high-level guys'

While Weaver expects now LeBron James or Shaquille O'Neal superstars to come from this year's talent pool, he is confident about the contributions from any of the top handful of NBA newcomers.

"I don't see Shaq or LeBron, but I see some high-level guys," Weaver said. "We like all those guys at the top. These guys are projecting to be very good players and we're going to get a very good player to help us continue to restore the Pistons.

"We're going to make the selection based on restoring the Pistons and having longevity. This is a long-term play. Sustained success is what we’re looking for."

The Pistons, who went 20-52 last season, won the NBA Draft Lottery on June 22 to claim the top spot.

In 1970, the last time Detroit owned the top pick, the Pistons selected Bob Lanier, an eight-time NBA All-Star center.

Top international prospects include Australian guard Josh Giddey, Spanish forward Usman Garuba and Turkish forward Alperen Sengun.

Garuba, 19 and born to Nigerian parents, is seen as a top defender while Giddey, 18, was a standout in Australia's National Basketball League and Sengun, 19, was named the 2020-21 Turkish League Most Valuable Player.

If Ignite forward Jonathan Kuminga is a top-six selection, he would be the highest-drafted player from the Democratic Republic of the Congo since Dikembe Mutombo was taken fourth overall in 1991.