The Detroit Pistons were rocked Thursday morning by the news that their star point guard Cade Cunningham will miss “an extended period of time” with a collapsed lung.
The news puts a dent in Detroit’s hopes of clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference and competing seriously for their first NBA title in 22 years. Cunningham was on track to lead the NBA in assists and garner All-NBA honors for the second successive season, but he is now just about certain to miss the 65-game cutoff for postseason awards honors after he suffered the pneumothorax in Tuesday’s win over the Washington Wizards.
However, the realistic timeline for Cunningham to return to action may not be as long as initially feared.
The average time lost to a collapsed lung is roughly 11 games
Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes pointed out on X that there have been several cases where an NBA player has suffered a pneumothorax, an injury in which a puncture in the lung causes air to leak in between the lung and the chest wall.
Gerald Wallace, Terrence Jones and CJ McCollum (twice) all have suffered this same injury. ESPN’s Tim Bontemps recalled that McCollum, now playing for the Atlanta Hawks, missed six weeks with a collapsed lung in 2021 and three weeks with the injury in 2023.
Jones missed seven games with the injury in 2015, returning in time to contribute to the Houston Rockets‘ run to the Western Conference finals.
In 2009, Wallace suffered a 30-40 percent lung collapse and a rib fracture following a flagrant foul. He returned after seven games.
On average, these three players missed around 26 days — equivalent to 11 games.
The Pistons (49-19) play 14 more games before the playoffs start. That timeline would put Cunningham on course to return on April 8 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Shams on Cade Cunningham collapsed lung:
“He’s expected to miss an extended period of time. The Pistons are not quite sure how long it will be. Could be weeks. There is optimism he could be back for the playoffs”
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ESPN’s Shams Charania said Thursday that the Pistons are “not quite sure” when their All-Star will return, but there is “optimism” that he will be ready for the start of the playoffs.
Recent history with pneumothorax injuries suggests that this is a fairly realistic timeline for Cunningham, though the Pistons will understandably exercise plenty of caution with their franchise player.
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