The Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons are among two of the worst teams in the NBA right now. The Pistons and Jazz have a combined nine wins, and the Pistons look like they're heading towards another rebuild, while still in their current rebuild. And a name that may be on his way out of Detroit is former No. 1 overall player Cade Cunningham.
Cunningham has not been the player that the Pistons were sold on. He's been anything but advertised and has largely been underwhelming as a player. He's by no means a bust, but after three seasons his shooting is still below average, he's not been healthy, and his teams have gotten worse, despite more talent having been added.
So there are talks around the NBA's water coolers on if the Pistons should move on from Cunningham, and try again. If, for whatever reason, that does happen, a lot of teams should be interested in Cunningham, including the Jazz.
But should they be? Well, the idea of getting Cunningham would be that it resolves several issues that the Jazz have, and those issues are; poor offensive efficiency, terrible perimeter defense, and too many turnovers. Considering to land Cunnigham it'd require probably two high-profile young players and at least two first-round picks (or some combination of those items), you have to make sure that the trade pays off on the court.
Looking at Cunningham's overall profile, he's not the guy the Jazz need. He's a poor shooter, posting just a 51.9% true shooting percentage, which is Jordan Clarkson's level of bad. He's a bad defender, at least this year, posting a defensive box plus-minus on par with Keyonte George and Clarkson, while turning the ball over more than any other Jazz player this season, on a per-game basis.
His offensive DRIP score is no better than Collin Sexton's (0.2), while his defensive DRIP puts him right above Sexton (last) and Clarkson (second-to-last), and his overall DRIP has him below Kris Dunn. Cunningham isn't the transcendent talent he was pitched as, and while he may have better figures and better stats on a better team; is it even worth saying the Jazz are a "better" team?
Cunningham has his stats because of his usage, but if he were to come to the Jazz, he'd have to halve his shot attempts, and he'd no longer be allowed to be the primary scorer. Could he thrive in a situation where he's forced off the ball more than usual? Unlikely, as the Pistons are trying to build their team around him and he's struggled, while going to the Jazz he'd have to fit a role that the team needs him to.
If he can't excel when the team is tailored to his skills, how can he excel on a team that isn't? Cunningham could get better, but the cost for "could" is too high for the Jazz to consider it. If he were a better defender and didn't turn the ball over as much, we could re-think the stance but for now, Cunningham is a no-go for Utah.