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NBA The Pistons have maintained their spot atop the Eastern Conference despite Cade Cunningham's absence. Wendell Cruz / Imagn Images Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, who has missed the last eight games with a left lung pneumothorax, continues to progress in his return to play process under the supervision of physicians and Pistons medical and performance staff, the team announced Thursday. He will be re-evaluated in one week. Advertisement Cunningham’s re-evaluation date means he’ll miss at least Detroit’s next four games, making him ineligible for end-of-season awards like MVP and All-NBA teams. He suffered the injury in the first quarter of the Pistons’ win over the Washington Wizards on March 17. Detroit has maintained its spot atop the Eastern Conference despite Cunningham’s absence, going 6-2. He made his first appearance on the Pistons’ bench during Tuesday’s win over the Toronto Raptors since suffering the injury. Cade Cunningham is back in the building: pic. twitter. com/AHGBSj WYG1 — Hunter Patterson (@Hunter Patterson) April 1, 2026 The 24-year-old All-Star has averaged 24. 5 points on 46. 1 percent shooting from the field and 34. 6 percent from 3-point range across 61 games. He’s also averaging 9. 9 assists, 5. 6 rebounds, 1. 5 steals and 0. 9 blocks. His assists, steals and blocks are all career highs. Before being sidelined, Cunningham was on pace for an All-NBA selection and had played his way into the MVP conversation. Last week, the NBA’s players’ union called for the 65-game rule to be “abolished or reformed to create an exception for serious injuries. ” A spokesperson for the National Basketball Players Association then provided a statement on the heels of Cunningham’s collapsed lung being announced. “Cade Cunningham’s potential ineligibility for postseason awards after a career-defining season is a clear indictment of the 65-game rule and yet another example of why it must be abolished or reformed to create an exception for significant injuries, ” the spokesperson said. “Since its implementation, far too many deserving players have been unfairly disqualified from end-of-season honors by this arbitrary and overly rigid quota. ” Detroit (55-21) clinched the Central Division title for the first time since 2008 with its win Tuesday, and is two wins from notching the best record in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2007. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Hunter Patterson is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Detroit Pistons. Before joining the NBA staff, Hunter was an editor on The Athletic's news desk and provided occasional Sacramento Kings coverage. Prior to The Athletic, he worked for the NBA as a broadcasting assistant. Hunter graduated from Loyola Marymount University and earned his master's degree in Specialized Journalism at the University of Southern California.