“Can Always Depend on Him”: Isiah Thomas Praises Cade Cunningham’s Emerging Leadership, Draws Parallels to Nikola Jokic

This young NBA season is going exactly the way everyone drew it up. The Thunder look unstoppable at 12-1, the Nuggets are just behind them at 9-2, and the East is being dominated by … the Pistons? Detroit is 10-2 and winners of eight straight, and they’ve already built a 2.5-game lead on the rest of the conference. So much for the regression that was predicted after last year’s breakout season.

Cade Cunningham made his first All-NBA team last year, but he’s taken his game to an even higher level through the first 11 games. He’s second in the league in assists and tenth in points, one of only four players to be top-10 in each. He missed Wednesday’s game with a hip contusion, but right before that he dropped a 46-point triple-double in an overtime win over the Wizards.

There’s no higher praise for a player than being christened the next big thing by a franchise legend. We’ve seen Magic Johnson effusively praise Luka Doncic since he came to the Lakers. Clyde Frazier has had nothing but love for Jalen Brunson since he’s been on the Knicks, and so on. Now Cade is being pumped up by the captain of the Bad Boys himself, Isiah Thomas.

Yesterday, Thomas made an appearance on SiriusXM’s NBA Today, and he spoke about Cade’s evolution as a player and a leader.

“He comes to the game every night and he does what’s necessary for the team to win,” Thomas said. “Sometimes he may not take a shot for the whole first quarter, and then he’ll get going in the second quarter. But you can always depend on him in the fourth quarter.”

It’s widely agreed that Nikola Jokic is the best player in the league. The Nuggets center has three MVPs in his trophy case already, and arguably should have had two more. Thomas sees parallels between Cade and the only guy currently averaging more assists per game than he is.

“Remember when people were saying, ‘Oh, the Joker don’t take enough shots, he’s only taking eight shots, he’s only taking 10 shots,'” Thomas said. “The Joker has found a way, like all the great players do, they find a way to beat you by making their teammates better, and not necessarily having to take the majority of the shots,” he explained.

“That’s where Cade is at right now. He can beat you scoring 40 points, or he can beat you scoring 12 points,” the Pistons legend continued, before piling even more praise on Cade by comparing him to one of the best players from his own era, Magic Johnson.

All the talk before the season was that the East was wide open on the second tier, but that the Cavs and Knicks were clearly the cream of the crop. Nobody told Cade that, because he’s playing like the best player in the conference, while making the Pistons look like a legitimate threat. Could Cade follow in Thomas’ footsteps and put the Pistons back on top? He’s on his way.