Pistons' Cade Cunningham Out 7-10 Days After MRI on Knee Injury

The Detroit Pistons announced Tuesday that star point guard Cade Cunningham will be re-evaluated in seven to 10 days after suffering a knee injury.

According to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), the team said that Cunningham underwent an MRI that showed the injury Monday after going down in the second quarter of Sunday's 131-114 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Cunningham had played in all 36 of the Pistons' games this season, but he is guaranteed to miss Tuesday's home clash with the Sacramento Kings.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft missed all but 12 games last season due to a shin injury, but he came into 2023-24 healthy, and he is enjoying his best individual year as an NBA player.

Through 36 games, Cunningham is averaging a career-high 22.8 points, 7.3 assists and 1.9 three-pointers made per contest to go along with 4.1 rebounds and 1.0 steal.

He is also shooting a career-best 44.9 percent from the field and 33.5 percent from beyond the arc after largely being an inefficient shooter over his first two seasons.

While Cunningham has performed at close to an All-Star level, it has not translated into much team success for the Pistons.

Detroit is a league-worst 3-33 this season, including an NBA-record 28-game losing streak from Oct. 30 until Dec. 30 when it escaped with a 129-127 home win against the Toronto Raptors.

After that victory, the Pistons went on a four-game road trip and lost every game, but Tuesday's tilt with Sacramento will be their first of three home games in a row.

While losing their best player is far from an ideal scenario for a Pistons team that is already struggling, it should open up more playing time for a pair of young, promising guards in 2022 No. 5 overall pick Jaden Ivey and 2023 No. 25 overall pick Marcus Sasser.

Veteran Alec Burks and fourth-year guard Killian Hayes will be tasked with taking on a greater workload in the backcourt as well until Cunningham returns.