Detroit Pistons to Select Cade Cunningham with No. 1 Pick, per Woj

It won’t be official that Cade Cunningham is the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft until he walks across the stage and shakes Adam Silver’s hand, but when Adrian Wojnarowski says something in the NBA world, it’s almost a sure thing.

Woj tweeted Thursday afternoon that the Detroit Pistons will select former Oklahoma State star Cade Cunningham with the No. 1 pick, making him the first No. 1 pick in OSU basketball’s history.

Woj reports that Pistons officials flew out to New York (where the Draft is being held) on Wednesday to meet with Cunningham a final time and finalized plans to take him with the No. 1 pick Thursday morning.

Cunningham spent one season at Oklahoma State where he was an All-American and the Big 12’s Player of the Year. He averaged 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists a game as a Cowboy, leading the Pokes to their first NCAA Tournament win since 2009.

He came to OSU as the No. 1 player in the 2020 recruiting class, making him the top-ranked recruit in the program’s history.

The Pistons were awarded the No. 1 pick June 22 through the NBA Draft Lottery. Reports came out about how the Pistons considered trading the pick to be an option, but it has always felt like a smokescreen for them to eventually draft Cunningham.

Cunningham will be OSU’s 37th NBA Draft pick and the first since Jawun Evans was taken in the second round in 2017.

Woj later tweeted that trade offers continue to roll in for the No. 1 pick, and that something could blow Detroit away. But if the Pistons are at No. 1, they will take Cunningham.