Cade Cunningham Logs First NBA Double-Double in Third Career Appearance

The NBA’s first overall pick had to wait until his team’s eighth overall game to reach double digits in scoring.

Cade Cunningham recorded his first double-double (of many to come, no doubt) on Thursday night, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 boards during his Detroit Pistons’ 109-98 loss at home to the Philadelphia 76ers.

This hasn’t exactly been the storybook opening to Cade’s career but such is the start for No. 1 picks.

Thursday’s result marked the seventh win in nine tries for the Eastern Conference’s second-place Sixers but it was the eight defeat for the last-placed Pistons in nine. The road for a No. 1 pick is not so easy, early.

To the upcoming dynasty’s credit, this was just the third appearance for Cunningham who suffered an ankle injury prior to the start of the preseason. In his first two games coming in, a rusty Cade shot 3-of-22 for eight total points and was 0-for-14 from deep.

Buckets didn’t come much easier on Thursday. Cade earned his scoring by volume, going 4-of-17 and 1-for-7 from 3, but he also hauled in 10 rebounds and dished out another career-high four assists.

On the bright side, that first made 3-pointer as an NBA player was a deep shot.

Amid all of his firsts, it was a third which was all the more impressive.

Cade, OSU and Pistons fans shouldn’t fret. There is always an adjustment period for any player making the leap from college to the NBA — even those with generational talent — and Cade missed out on a ton of lead-in time and practice. It’s a very long season and there will be many more double-doubles to come.