Cade Cunningham was the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft and had a very good season for the Detroit Pistons. So why is a large swath of the national NBA media discounting his chances for NBA Rookie of the Year?
It was a throwaway remark, which made it a bit more infuriating. During Game 1 of the 76ers-Raptors series, broadcast on ESPN. announcer Dave Pasch mentioned after a nice play by Toronto’s Scottie Barnes (paraphrasing here): “That why Rookie of the Year is between him and Evan Mobley”
It is? To quote Detroit coach Dwane Casey:
Dwane Casey on Cade Cunningham after the #Pistons win:
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) March 8, 2022
"He's rookie of the year. It's not even close."
pic.twitter.com/sXEcWSXfYB
Even the NBA.com Rookie Ladder has Cunningham behind Mobley and Barnes, as does almost the entire NBA national media.
In terms of scoring, which is what most NBA awards seem to come down to, Cade Cunningham scored 17.4 points a game, two points more than Barnes and almost 2.5 more than Mobley.
Cunningham was drafted No. 1 and his play did nothing but validate that selection. Do not forget he missed all of training camp, preseason and the first four games due to a sprained ankle. Once he got the rust off, Cunningham was pretty much cooking: averaging 18.8 points after December 1, and that is with him being the main target of defenses.
He also averaged over 5 rebounds and 5 assists a game, so he was not just a scorer. And in terms of ‘clutch points’, Cade led all rookies. WIth the game on the line, Cunningham was the rookie who came through the most.
We are not going to go into details of why Cunningham should be Rookie of the Year over Barnes and Mobley (and I am not knocking them, both were really good in their first year), but, to validate picking them over Cunningham, many in the media are using this new factor: How successful was the team?
Yes, Mobley and Barnes’ teams had more wins than the Pistons (not a high bar) but they were also more of role players, while Cunningham had to shoulder being an instant team leader and was the team’s go-to player.
Neither Barnes nor Mobley were the stars of their respective teams, good players who contributed, absolutely, but it was not like Cleveland and Toronto based their offense around either.
Cade Cunningham is a winner
And if you want to talk about W’s, just look at the Pistons record when Cunningham did not play: Yikes!
Pistons record without Cade Cunningham playing: 3-15
Pistons record when Cade Cunningham plays: 20-45
Now, Cunningham’s presence does not turn Detroit into the Phoenix Suns, but they are a heck of a lot better when he is in the lineup, and they went 11-13 in his final 24 games.
Plenty of ROYs on bad teams
WIth the way the NBA Draft works, the No. 1 pick usually goes to a team that had a poor record the year before. Most top rookies start off on bad teams. although the reformulated lottery odds do give semi-decent teams a better chance to move up.
Karl-Anthony-Towns won Rookie of the Year in 2016 even though the Timberwolves went 29-53. In 2014, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Michael Carter-Williams was named Rookie of the Year as the best of ‘The Process’ Sixers, who went 19-63.
So all this ‘he helped a team win’ stuff is new and seems contrived. Mobley’s team lost two straight play-in games and Toronto got pummeled by Philly in its first-round series opener (in which Barnes got hurt and may not play for a while). So it is not like either is leading a team to the championship.
If you want to give the award to a rookie playing meaningful minutes on a team with a chance to go far in the playoffs, give it to Jonathan Kuminga of the Warriors or Cameron Thomas of the Nets.
The 2021 NBA draft class was amazing. There really was not a bust among the top 10, which is very rare (as Pistons fans who have seen them waste top 10 picks know), and just to make the All-Rookie team will be accomplishment.
It appears Cunningham won’t be voted Rookie of the Year, but it is more the dismissiveness of the national media towards the possibility of Cunningham being ROY that is most irksome.
No matter who actually wins it, Cade Cunningham deserves to be in the Rookie of the Year conversation.