Already ruled out for tonight’s season-opener against the Chicago Bulls, prized No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham could also miss the team’s three-game road trip, according to Detroit Pistons general manager Troy Weaver.
Cunningham suffered an ankle injury in training camp that forced him to miss all of preseason, and the organization has never put a timetable on his return other than to say the team was being caution and that there was nothing serious. Hearing a hopeful Oct. 30 return date is the first official projection there has been so far.
Cunningham has never been seen with any kind of limp or impediment, and he’s never been seen with a brace or a walking boot so the injury has remained a bit of a mystery.
Weaver, in speaking with 97.1 The Ticket had this to say, per Rod Beard in the Detroit News:
“He’s pretty much day-to-day, but we need to ramp him up and get some conditioning going and get him acclimated to going full speed in 5-on-5,” Weaver said Wednesday morning on the “Stoney & Jansen Show” on 97.1 The Ticket. “Hopefully, we’ll get him back sooner than later, but I would anticipate hopefully seeing him when we get back off the road.”
That would see Cunningham make his Pistons’ debut Oct. 30 against the Orlando Magic. The Pistons also play the next night at home against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Pistons have been dealing with injuries throughout training camp in addition to Cunningham’s lingering ankle sprain. Saddiq Bey has also dealt with a sprained ankle and Killian Hayes was held out for a period while in concussion protocol.
Both Bey and Hayes are available for tonight’s game against the Bulls.