Cade Cunningham had a rough start to his season but has since played more consistently for the Detroit Pistons and has put himself squarely in the running for Rookie of the Year in the NBA.
Cunningham made team history against Utah last night, becoming the only rookie since Isiah Thomas and Grant Hill to record at least four games of 25 points, five rebounds and five assists this early into his career.
The number one pick is leading all rookies in scoring and is in the top-5 of several other key categories including assists, blocks and steals.
He has declared himself the best rookie in his class and is backing it up, which you love to see from a guy who is the hope of a beleaguered franchise and fanbase.
His recent entry in the team history books had me wondering where he might stand on the list of Pistons’ all-time great rookies.
I ranked the top-10 Pistons’ rookies of All-Time at the beginning of the season and Cade Cunningham has already surpassed many of them in just over a half a season for Detroit.
But how high has he climbed? Let’s take a look.
Cade Cunningham on the Pistons’ all-time rookie list
The modern players: Andre Drummond, Brandon Knight, Saddiq Bey
In my opinion, Cade Cunningham has already leapfrogged these three Pistons, who all had good rookie seasons but have not put up the kind of all-around numbers we are seeing from Cade.
He is averaging more points per game than all of their respective first years, more assists than any of them, and trails in rebounds only to Andre Drummond and not even by that much, crazy considering that Drummond is known as one of the best rebounders in the modern game.
Drummond ended up second team All-Rookie, while both Knight and Bey made first team, an honor that will almost certainly be bestowed on Cunningham by the end of his first season.