On Thursday morning, Cade Cunningham declared himself to be the NBA’s best American player by way of a feature story in GQ magazine. Players say stuff like this all the time. At any given time, there are probably 10 or more guys who believe themselves to be the best player on the planet. On any given night, they might all have a case. Still, it’s a pretty bright spotlight to shine upon yourself.
But if you’re Cunningham, why not draw a little attention to yourself? Not nearly enough people are doing it for you. Sure, he’s listed in all the MVP rankings (NBA.com has him fourth this week). In ESPN’s latest straw poll, which surveys a panel of 100 local, national and international media members, he came out third behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, who is still in the race for now but can only miss one more game before falling below the minimum 65-game threshold.
FanDuel currently has Cunningham at +700, the third-highest number on the board behind, of course, SGA and Jokic. Six weeks ago, I had him at third in my CBS ranking, which didn’t even include Jokic because at that point, he was all but certain to miss too many games.
But all of these rankings paint Cunningham as an also-ran in a race that, at this point, he should arguably be leading. Let’s start with the obvious: He’s the best player on the league’s best team (entering play on Friday, Detroit is percentage points above OKC at 41-13).
The Pistons‘ latest victory was another walloping of the Knicks on Thursday, a game in which Cunningham, as if to officially stamp his best-American statement and sans the services of fellow All-Star Jalen Duren and Beef Stew Isaiah Stewart, carded 42 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
The Knicks were supposed to be one of the teams to beat in the East this year. Many wondered if the Pistons would even be able to match what they did last season, when they won their first playoff game in 17 years before falling in the first round to … this Knicks. This year, they’ve played three times, and Detroit has won by a total of 84 points, with Cunningham registering a plus-44 across 89 minutes.
Cunningham and Jokic are the only two players averaging at least 23 points and nine assists (Cunningham leads the league in the latter category at 9.6). Cunningham’s 9.1 per-game plus-minus is more than double Jokic’s plus-4.3, but let’s be clear: This isn’t about looking for cracks in the cases for Jokic or SGA; they’re both airtight. This is about putting a proper case together for Cunningham.
And to do that, the full context of not just where the Pistons are, but how they got here, becomes necessary. Three years ago, the Pistons were the worst team in the league with 17 wins. Two years ago, that win total dropped to 14 as they endured an NBA record 28-game losing streak. We’re talking bottom of the barrel. People were honestly questioning whether Cunningham could ever be that guy.
Suffice it to say, he can. And is. Last year, the Pistons became the first team in history to triple their win total from the previous season. Now they have the best record in the league. And it’s not like they added a major piece. They just got better. Cade got better. He’s a different, more confident shooter now, particularly from 3 off the dribble.
Cunningham is hitting these step-back 3s at a 44% clip this season, per NBA.com.
All told, he’s up from 31% to 35% on off-the-dribble 3s; it’s still not a huge number, but it’s just enough to force defenders to press up tighter and go over ball screens, at which point Cunningham, who scores the third-most points per game via drives in the league, becomes truly impossible to keep out of the paint.
If you’re looking to compare Cunningham’s MVP case with, say, Luka Doncic, the conversation, for my money, begins and ends on defense. Cunningham plays both sides.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic are a different story. Their respective cases are unimpeachable, and this isn’t to suggest that Cunningham should or shouldn’t win over either one of those guys. It’s simply to say he deserves to be in the same sentence. Not the one after. And certainly not the one after Luka.
Say what you want, but story matters in MVP voting. And right now, there is no better story than how quickly Cunningham has turned the cellar-dwelling Pistons into, by record, the best team in the league. He has to do everything for the Pistons in terms of shot creation; when he’s on the floor, Detroit’s offense operates at what would rank fourth in the league, per Cleaning the Glass. When he leaves, they become the fourth worst. Nobody — not Luka, not Jokic, not SGA, not Jalen Brunson, not Jaylen Brown — nobody has to carry a heavier offensive load.
Yes, we’re all waiting to see what the Pistons will do in the postseason, whether their lack of shooting will derail them. But this is a regular-season award, and relatively speaking, Cunningham, and by extension the Pistons, are not getting the shine they should. It’s high time that it starts to change.
