{"id":862295,"date":"2026-09-27T09:22:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T09:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/862295\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T09:22:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T09:22:17","slug":"pistons-targeted-three-nba-superstars-to-pair-with-cade-cunningham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/862295\/","title":{"rendered":"Pistons targeted three NBA superstars to pair with Cade Cunningham"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Detroit Pistons reportedly explored adding a superstar alongside Cade Cunningham, targeting Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Kawhi Leonard this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/teams\/143-detroit-pistons.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Detroit Pistons<\/a> reportedly explored making a major splash around Cade Cunningham this offseason, with <a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/players\/6138-kevin-durant.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kevin Durant<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/players\/8289-kyrie-irving.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kyrie Irving<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/players\/8299-kawhi-leonard.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kawhi Leonard<\/a> all appearing on their list of star targets.<\/p>\n<p>        <a class=\"article-widget__photo\" href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/players\/8299-kawhi-leonard.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-396174-plsm.jpg\" alt=\"Kawhi  Leonard\"\/><br \/>\n        <\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n                Position<br \/>\n                SF, SG\n            <\/p>\n<p>\n                Age<br \/>\n                35\n            <\/p>\n<p>\n                Height<br \/>\n                198 cm\n            <\/p>\n<p>\n                Weight<br \/>\n                102 kg\n            <\/p>\n<p>\n                Birth place<br \/>\n                Riverside, United States of America\n            <\/p>\n<p>ClutchPoints insider Brett Siegel revealed on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5bvRXXvKDeA\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Clutch Scoops podcast<\/a> that Detroit went as far as directly contacting the Houston Rockets about a potential Durant trade.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There were conversations this offseason about that where the Detroit Pistons reached out to the Rockets and said, &#8216;We are interested in trading for Kevin Durant,'&#8221; Siegel said. &#8220;And Houston wasn&#8217;t having any of that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to Siegel, Detroit&#8217;s interest was part of a broader attempt to add another established star alongside franchise cornerstone Cunningham.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Pistons really wanted to pursue KD and take a big swing,&#8221; Siegel explained. &#8220;Whether it was him, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, those were all guys on their list for the Pistons this offseason to try to pair him with Cade Cunningham.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-467838-any780x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Credit Getty Images via AFP &#8211; Scanpix<\/p>\n<p> Durant interest could resurface <\/p>\n<p>Houston ultimately showed no interest in Detroit&#8217;s approach for Durant, but Siegel does not expect suitors for the veteran star to disappear if his long-term future with the Rockets becomes uncertain.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think that those conversations, and I don&#8217;t think that other teams that are interested in Kevin Durant, are going to be going anywhere anytime soon,&#8221; Siegel noted.<\/p>\n<p>Durant is not currently locked into a contract extension beyond his existing deal.<\/p>\n<p>He is under contract for the 2026-27 season and will earn $43.9 million as part of his two-year, $90 million deal. KD also holds a $46.1 million player option for 2027-28.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think that if he becomes available at any point, which I don&#8217;t believe that to happen in the middle of the season, but when we look ahead to next offseason, if he doesn&#8217;t want to sign a long-term extension with Houston, those suitors will still be there,&#8221; Siegel added. &#8220;And there&#8217;s going to be a ton of interest in a player like Kevin Durant.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Durant, 37, averaged 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists for Houston last season.<\/p>\n<p>The Pistons, meanwhile, finished the 2025-26 regular season with an Eastern Conference-best 60-22 record. Detroit eventually reached the conference semifinals before losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games.<\/p>\n<p>                                                    <a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/plus?utm_source=basketnews_com&amp;utm_medium=bn_plus&amp;utm_id=UA-259273-31&amp;utm_campaign=banners_free_content_for_not_members_bottom_7\" class=\"banners_paid_content_info_block_white banners-paid-content-info-block-white\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>                                                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bn-plus-img img-fluid\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790500937_516_bn-plus.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                                            Thank you for reading us! 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It helps us a lot, and we are committed to delivering you the very latest basketball news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Detroit Pistons reportedly explored adding a superstar alongside Cade Cunningham, targeting Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Kawhi&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":862296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-862295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=862295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/862296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}