Why is Cade Cunningham not playing against 76ers? Pistons guard's late game scratch explored

Detroit Pistons young star Cade Cunningham has been ruled out for Saturday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers. The former No. 1 overall pick has been dealing with a hip injury and one day after making his return to the court on Friday, he was scratched from the starting lineup.

The Pistons selected Malik Beasley as Cunningham's replacement for this game. The guard had missed three games before Friday night and everything pointed out he would be available today. Cade's next chance to play will come on Tuesday when the Pistons close out the NBA Cup's group phase against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Detroit has been a better competitor this season as they are five games away from tying their wins from last season. Going against a struggling 76ers squad could give them a chance to perform at a good level, but without their go-to guy, the job becomes increasingly harder.

The play-in tournament is a solid possibility for the Pistons, but they must keep up with the Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks to have more chances to compete in the top five of the Eastern Conference.

Revisiting Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons 2024-25 season

After an 0-4 start to the season, the Detroit Pistons bounced back with a victory against the Philadelphia 76ers. They went on to win three of their next five matchups before starting to swap losses and victories.

Cunningham was the scoring leader in 11 of those matchups before he missed three consecutive duels. He returned with 24 points, six rebounds and 11 assists against the Pacers in the Pistons' 130-106 win. He added two steals while shooting 10-from-19 from the field and 4-from-6 from deep.

For the season, Cade Cunningham averages 22.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game while shooting 43.7% from the field, 35.8% from deep and 80.8% from the free-throw line.

After a disappointing season with Monty Williams, the Pistons signed JB Bickerstaff to take the reins of a team with high potential. They aren't championship contenders at the moment but are working to get there.

With a future star like Cade Cunningham running the show, Detroit can make some noise in the foreseeable future and take this team back to the top. This franchise hasn't found success since the 2000s and their present suggests that it won't be late before we see the Pistons becoming championship contenders again.