NBA Draft Analysis: A Closer Look at Cade Cunningham

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We were fortunate to work closely with Oklahoma State this season and have a special appreciation for Cade Cunningham’s style of play and effectiveness. Looking at this season's OSU game stats, it's clear why Cunningham has been so successful. Everything starts with our raw X-Y-Z coordinates, delivered with sub-second latency, which generate over 70 unique stats well beyond the traditional boxscore.

In analyzing Cunningham’s games it’s clear where he preferred to operate. In his 21 conference games, 81% of Cunningham’s three point attempts were taken above the free throw line extended. As the primary ball handler for OSU, Cunningham scored or assisted on over a quarter of the Cowboy’s made field goals. The heat map below shows Cunningham’s distribution of three point shots which clearly shows his propensity to own the top of the key without ever drifting too far to the corners within the offense. It will be interesting to see if he continues to dominate the ball at the next level or if he will be paired with a primary ball handler.

As we look to this week’s NBA Draft, it’s likely that Cunningham will be the top pick, and that the Detroit Pistons will be his new home. Cunningham can help in a number of different ways but we will dive into one specific area: shot making. In 2020-21, the Detroit Pistons ranked 21st in the NBA in three point percentage at 35%. Adding Cunningham should immediately boost their efficiency as Cunningham converted 40% of his three point attempts in conference play. What’s more impressive is that he attempted 57% of his threes off the dribble without dipping a single percentage point in efficiency. For comparison, fellow Big 12 projected lottery pick, Davion Mitchell, took 41% of his three pointers off the dribble but dipped from 44% overall to a still respectable 37%. It’s Cunninham’s ability to take and make difficult shots off the dribble that have scouts excited about his potential at the next level. While he can make plays and shots off the dribble, it’s clear that Cunningham will need to develop his game going left. On off-the-dribble threes to the right side of the court, Cunningham shot 52%. But on those same types of attempts on the left side of the court, his efficiency dropped to 28%, as demonstrated in the zone chart below (Note: numbers above the percentages represent Points Per Shot).

We're excited about expanding our analytics offering this season, and look forward to working with many more teams, broadcasters and digital publishers. More teams means more data and many more opportunities ShotTracker can benefit our partners. As always, we welcome feedback, so please visit our API and our product demo pages and let us know what you think!