The NBA Rookie of the Year race is starting to heat up and Cade Cunningham is one of the frontrunners to take home the award.
Cunningham, who was this year’s number one pick, has been more consistent after a rough start and reminding people why he was the first choice.
In a recent interview with Bleacher Report, Cade Cunningham declared himself the league’s best rookie, which will certainly draw some debate from different corners of the Internet.
I love his confidence, and I don’t think he is being arrogant by saying this, as just about any of the top rookies would make their case and you want that kind of swagger from a guy who is going to be a future All-Star and hopefully lead your team to better times.
I wouldn’t have any problem with guys like Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes or Franz Wagner saying the same thing about themselves, and in the end, if you aren’t confident in your abilities, you won’t last long in the NBA.
So what do the numbers tell us? Mostly that Cade Cunningham is right.
Cade Cunningham’s rookie statistics for the Detroit Pistons
Here is where Cade Cunningham currently stands in some key categories among rookies:
- Points per game: 1st
- Rebounds per game: 6th
- Assists per game: 2nd
- Total steals: 3rd
- Steals per game: 2nd
- Total blocks: 6th
- Total minutes played: 6th (he’s played fewer games than everyone ahead of him)
That is a strong resume for Rookie of the Year, though his shooting numbers and turnovers aren’t doing him any favors.
I am Homer #1 for the Pistons, so I am always going to back my guy, but I admit that other players have strong cases as well, depending on what you value.
NBA Rookie of the Year: How to measure rookie success
Most of the top rookies end up on terrible teams that are not ready to compete, so it can be difficult to measure the value of individual statistics for guys on losing teams.
However, I do think it is fair to use team success as part of the measure, and when we do so, Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes have stronger arguments.
Mobley’s Cavaliers are currently 6th in the Eastern Conference and look to be headed to the playoffs. He’s been a big part of their defensive revival along with veteran Ricky Rubio and center Jarrett Allen.
Mobley is already defending well beyond his years and is one of the best all-around defenders in the NBA even though he is a rookie.
Scottie Barnes and the Raptors are currently 10th with a .500 record, though that is not completely unexpected considering they got some guys back who missed most of last season with injuries.
The Pistons are second to last in the East and have won just 11 games, though they have been trending the right way in 2022, going 6-5 and beating some good teams, including the Raptors.
Mobley clearly gets the edge in team success and that might be enough to get him the RoY award, but that does not mean he’s the best rookie.
Mobley has a much-better cast around him (as does Barnes) with guys like Darius Garland, a resurgent Kevin Love, Jarrett Allen, Lauri Markkanen and Ricky Rubio (before he got hurt). Garland has been amazing and is the frontrunner for Most Improved Player, possibly followed closely by Allen.
Mobley isn’t being asked to do nearly as much, and though he has been very good, he’s not carrying his team’s offense, being defended by the other team’s best player or marked as the focal point of their game plan like Cunningham is.
It’s a tough comparison, as I do recognize Mobley is awesome and the Cavs are one of the NBA’s best stories this season, but he and Cade do not have the same roles or responsibilities and I think certain parts of Cunningham’s game would benefit immensely from having better teammates.
For example, Cade averages over 10 potential assists per game (top among rookies), so if his teammates could make some of the shots he creates, he’d be closer to 10 assists per game and this would look a lot different.
I can see the argument either way, but in the end, this is an individual award, not a team one, so the nod has to go to the guy who is better individually and that is Cade Cunningham.
Cade Cunningham can seal the Rookie of the Year award in the second half
For Cade Cunningham to win Rookie of the Year, the Detroit Pistons need to win more games down the stretch, it’s that simple.
So far in 2022 they’ve been doing that, and if the Pistons can continue to win at this clip, I do think Cade will take home the hardware.
But if the Pistons win 20 games total again and the Cavaliers end up in the top-6, it will be hard to ignore Evan Mobley, so Cunningham is going to need some help from his team if he wants to win this award.
Getting Kelly Olynyk and Jerami Grant back will help Cade’s cause, as they need some veterans to dapple into their lineup with all of the young guys if they are going to continue to win games at an above .500 rate.
I really like both Cunningham and Mobley and I think it’s an interesting debate, one that is not easily solved.
What is not debatable is that this rookie class is very good and is going to produce some future All-NBA talent.