When fans question why an NBA team would tank, just show them how things are working out for the Detroit Pistons and Cade Cunningham. Cade was the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft, and he’s helped turn the Pistons from a laughingstock into a powerhouse, while at the same time making an extremely credible MVP case for himself.
Advertisement
Cade lifted the Pistons into the playoffs last year, the first time they’ve played postseason basketball since 2019. This year, he has them atop the East with a 42-14 record, and there’s a high likelihood that in April, he’ll lead them to their first playoff series win in 18 years.
Cade has been awesome. He’s currently averaging 25.3 points per game while dishing out 9.8 assists, but his impact goes well beyond stats. Just watch a Pistons game to see how important he is to everything his team does.
Last year, Cade made Third Team All-NBA, but he’s a lock to beat that this year. He’s played so well, in fact, that he’s creeping up the ranks of the greatest players in the league. Back in December, Jeff Teague said he’d take Cade over Luka Doncic, and Kendrick Perkins echoed that statement this past week, saying Cade has “leapfrogged” Luka to become the fifth-best player in the world.
Michigan native Draymond Green chimed in on the Cade discussion on his podcast this week, and like everyone else, he had nothing but good things to say about the Pistons prodigy.
“I like this,” Draymond said of Perkins’ take, “because I think Cade Cunningham has definitely moved into a different tier, as I spoke about when we played the Pistons a couple weeks ago.”
Draymond can be a trash-talking menace on the court, but he took a more tactful approach in explaining why Cade deserves to be ranked so highly. “I’m not in the business of, ‘Oh man, Cade Cunningham is better than Luka Doncic now!'” he said. “I’m not in that business. I don’t feel the need to lessen Luka to make Cade more. I just think Cade is incredible,” the 4 time NBA champion pointed out.
This being Draymond, that tone quickly shifted about two seconds later when he decided to sideswipe the Knicks. “I think Cade is ready to take them next steps, man,” he said. “He got his team No. 1 in the East, came out the All-Star Break 42 and 9 at the Garden, owning the New York Knicks. Cade Cunningham owns the New York Knicks.”
Just as Luka and his Lakers have been maligned this year despite having a solid record, the Knicks have been good too but have found themselves on the receiving end of more than a few stray bullets. Danny Green called last week’s Pistons blowout over the Knicks, a “belt to a**” treatment, with many others have made similar observations.
The Knicks beat the Pistons in the playoffs last spring, but the tables have turned this season. Cade has been a big reason why, but not the only one, as Detroit still beat New York by 38 earlier this month when he only scored 11 points in 22 minutes. His recent 42-point effort, though, reminded them that he’s the one they have to worry about.
A player can’t just declare that he’s on that upper level of superstars. He has to be crowned by other players, fans and analysts, and that’s exactly what’s happened with Cade. Even scarier? He’s only 24 years old, so he’s just getting started.
