Why Cade Cunningham deserves more love
Cade Cunningham, the first overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, dribbles the ball around Jalen Green, the second overall pick. <Image credit: Sports Illustrated>
Recently, I’ve been seeing a lot of Cade Cunningham talk on my social media feed. I will preface this by acknowledging that I’ve grown up a Pistons fan, so I tend to view a bit more content regarding Cunningham and the rest of the team than the average NBA follower.
Having said that, I feel this attention is well deserved. The Pistons have won six of their last eight games, which includes matchups against the Celtics, Cavaliers, Raptors, Hawks and Hornets. While they may not be among the most elite teams in the league, all of these franchises are firmly in the playoff hunt, and the Pistons putting up any kind of win streak at this point in the season is something to admire.
What’s most admirable about this run, though, is the play of Cunningham. He’s dropped less than 20 points on only two occasions over this eight-game stretch, highlighted by his 28-point performance last night against the Hawks.
Not only is he providing offense by himself, but he’s also getting his teammates involved. He’s averaging six assists over this stretch of games, and is quickly becoming more comfortable running the Pistons’ offense, notably in the later stages of games. The recent acquisition of Marvin Bagley III has made Cunningham’s life a lot easier when it comes to collecting easy assists through lob passes.
With all that being said, one might assume that Cunningham is a lock for the Rookie of the Year Award. After all, he’s averaging 16.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game on the season. Those are all top-five averages amongst rookies this season, and his steal and block averages are also top five.
Adding to this, his game against the Hawks was his tenth on the year with 20 or more points, five or more rebounds and five or more assists. All other rookies have ten of those games combined.
Despite this, Cunningham is still not at the top of the Rookie of the Year voting in the eyes of many fans, at least those that I encounter online. Maybe it’s due to the team success of rookies like Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley. Perhaps it’s the poor stretch of games that Cunningham had at the beginning of the season in which he was coming off an injury. Or it could simply be that he plays in Detroit, a smaller market that has seen little success in the past decade-plus.
Whatever the case may be, I feel that Cunningham deserves more respect and recognition for his play, especially of late.
I understand that his team might be an eyesore to watch at times, but Cunningham has lifted the spirits of many fans in Detroit due to his play alone. The Pistons are somewhat exciting again, and it’s because of one guy. A guy that has stepped up in moments that mattered, a guy that has provided a spark to a young core that needed it after showing some promise last season.
The Pistons haven’t had this type of talented, takeover player since Chauncey Billups was on the roster. While this alone shouldn’t win Cunningham the Rookie of the Year Award, his ability to carry a team that doesn’t have the talent that the Cavs and Raptors do should. Or, at the very least, his rookie-leading stats should be taken into account.
He’s as good and as humble of a young athlete as they come, and for the amount of weight that’s been placed on his shoulders after being drafted to a team like the Pistons, I believe he’s more than proven his ability as a player and leader thus far. Maybe he won’t win Rookie of the Year, and that’s ok - Detroit still has their guy, and he’ll continue to excel for them in the future. I just hope he gets a bit more praise, because he deserves it.