NBA Summer League: Cade Cunningham and Josh Giddey Set to Battle on Sunday Night

The Oklahoma City Thunder are kicking off Summer League play with a marquee matchup.

As Thunder fans are excited to see the debuts of rookies Josh Giddey, Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins, the man dubbed the NBA’s next superstar will be taking the floor in opposition.

Detroit’s No. 1-overall pick, former Oklahoma State Cowboys star Cade Cunningham, will also be making his Summer League debut on Sunday night, ensuring that the action in Las Vegas will be star-studded.

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Long projected the top pick in the 2021 Draft, Thunder fans had visions of Cunningham donning an OKC jersey, but the lottery balls were not kind to the Thunder, and instead they had to settle for Sam Presti’s handpicked guard from Australia.

But what a better matchup for Giddey than against Cunningham’s Pistons to dive right in and show what he’s made of.

While Giddey opted to stay in the NBL over college basketball, he’ll have a chance to get acclimated to the NBA style of play battling against the most talented member of his own draft class.

Cunningham also brings plenty of size to the table, meaning that Giddey will have to think his way through the matchup instead of just representing a complete physical mismatch.

But all eyes will likely be on Cunningham. At Oklahoma State, he was sometimes too deferential to his teammates in an effort to get everyone involved. Will he continue that into Summer League with Detroit?

He will take the floor alongside plenty of young Pistons talent, as Saddiq Bay and Killian Hayes also made Detroit’s Summer League roster.

Giddey will not be blessed with as much established firepower.

Sure, Theo Maledon will be present with Giddey, but he will also have to rely on the likes of Josh Hall, Charlie Brown Jr. and Jaylen Hoard as the Thunder contingent with NBA experience.

It will truly be Giddey, Maledon and the OKC rookies versus the league in Vegas, but that will also give Giddey every opportunity to dazzle in his first set of games with the Thunder.

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