The Cade Cunningham era has kicked off for the Detroit Pistons and the hype train is going full steam ahead.
He’s already had a marquee matchup with fellow rookie Jalen Green, showed some leadership qualities for the young Pistons and lit up the Knicks for seven 3-pointers in his best game so far.
But several other rookies have played well in Summer League, so the loudest talking heads are already making their hot takes about Cunningham, looking for any reason that he shouldn’t have been the number one pick.
This is all just hot air until the season starts, as careers are not made in Summer League, but we will be re-visiting the Cade Cunningham vs. Jalen Green, Jalen Suggs and Evan Mobley conversation many times this season.
One of them is the odds-on favorite to win Rookie of the Year, and if you want to make a value bet on Cade Cunningham, now is the time to do it.
Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham’s Rookie of the Year odds
According to WynnBet, Cade Cunningham is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year with +210 odds. Jalen Green is next at +240, followed by Jalen Suggs (+600), Evan Mobley (+700), and Scottie Barnes and Alperen Sengun who are both getting tempting +1000 odds.
These odds tell us that the award is very much up for grabs, so if you are going to bet Rookie of the Year, now is the time to do it, as none of the players have established themselves as a clear-cut favorite, so you are getting good odds.
Even though Cunningham is barely the favorite, there are some compelling reasons to bet him for Rookie of the Year, especially when you are still getting +210 odds. Those won’t last, so get in on this now, as Cunningham has some things working in his favor.
Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham will be helped by being the #1 pick
The number one pick in the NBA certainly doesn’t win Rookie of the Year every season, but that slot has won it more times than any other by far.
Going back to 1979 (the year Magic Johnson and Larry Bird entered the league), the number one pick has won Rookie of the Year 17 times, including five seasons in a row at one point.
Even though the number one pick has a target on his back all season, he also has a lot of cameras pointed at him and will get more attention than any other choice one way or another.
This is especially true for Cade Cunningham, who is going to immediately have a huge role for the Detroit Pistons, be their leader on the floor and fill up up the stat sheet.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Jalen Green ends up scoring more points than Cunningham (though that is certainly not a given, as Cunningham is an elite scorer himself) but I think Cade will fill the stat sheet with assists, rebounds, blocks and steals as well.
He is going to be featured nightly on ESPN, get plenty of chances to score and distribute, so the award is really his to lose right now.
But there is another reason I think Cade Cunningham is a value bet for Rookie of the Year.
Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham for Rookie of the Year will come down to team success
I think you could say all of the same things about Jalen Green that I’ve just said about Cade Cunningham, as he too will have a big role and could fill up the stat sheet.
Green also has a huge chip on his shoulder, so I expect him to try and win this award with everything he has.
A lot of the players in the top five will put up big numbers this season and there is always a chance that someone else will emerge (watch Trey Murphy III in New Orleans), so it could just come down to which team has the most success.
The Pistons, Rockets, Cavaliers and Magic were all terrible last season, so if one of them makes a big leap, their rookie will get credit.
I see the Detroit Pistons as the team most ready to make such a leap, as they already have some very good role players assembled around Cunningham in Jerami Grant, Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey and recently added Kelly Olynyk to the mix.
Cunningham wants to make the playoffs, and though I think that’s a long shot, I could see the Pistons at least sniffing the play-in game.
If that happens and none of the other teams make much of a leap, then the award is likely to go to Cunningham, whose biggest strength is “elevating his teammates.”
This will be one of the most competitive Rookie of the Year races in a while, but I still like Cade Cunningham to win it.