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Cade Cunningham and the NBA’s 11 most untouchable players

By Aaron Kellerstrass

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) drives for the basket against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) drives for the basket against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports /
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Detroit Pistons, Cade Cunningham
Cade Cunningham #2 of the Detroit Pistons and Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images) /

Cade Cunningham and the NBA’s untouchables

Devin Booker: 25-years-old

This group of four guys are sniffing at the heels of being MVP’s themselves and one of them will likely win the award in the next 2-3 seasons.

Booker is still just 25 somehow but already one of the NBA’s elite scorers. The 3-time All-Star is the best player on the best team in the NBA and is hoping to take his team back to the NBA Finals.

Booker is set to make $36 million in the 2023-24 season, which is actually a bargain for a guy who produces like him.

Jayson Tatum: 24-years-old

Jayson Tatum just turned 24-years-old in March and was a fringe MVP candidate this season, leading a flawed Boston team back from a slow start into the second round of the playoffs (so far), where they are down 2-1 to the Bucks.

Tatum has the right combination of offense, defense and temperament to be an MVP and is under contract until 2025-26, when he’ll be paid $37 million.

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His next contract will be ridiculous, but for now the Celtics are enjoying having one of the best under-25 players in the NBA, so he is not going anywhere.

Luka Doncic: 23-years-old

Even though I think Luka is the player in this tier most likely to win an MVP award, I’m going to put one guy higher simply based on contract. Doncic is a walking triple double, who is one of the few guys in the NBA who could take a bad team to the playoffs. I like Jalen Brunson, but it says a lot about Luka that he was able to drag this Mavs team to a top-4 seed with Brunson as his second-best guy.

Luka is locked up to a deal that will pay him $48 million in 2026-27, and the Mavericks would be willing to commit to him beyond that if they could.

Ja Morant: 22-years-old

Ja Morant gets the top spot in this tier because of his age, contract and the fact that Memphis would rather move the team than trade Morant.

He’s one of the most popular players in the NBA even though he plays in the smallest market. He was a fringe MVP candidate who is still on a rookie deal that will pay him just $12 million next season, and he’s a homegrown product who the Grizzlies drafted and love.

The Grizzlies are the team the Pistons are trying to emulate, as they have built their roster from the draft and are building around a dynamic star guard.

There might not be a single player in the NBA you could trade Ja for straight up, as no one else is producing like this on a rookie deal. He’s shown he can be the guy to build around and I hope his knee injury isn’t serious, as I am loving watching him compete against the Warriors and be the best player on the floor.

Notable omissions: Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Pascal Siakam, Brandon Ingram, Jordan Poole, Karl-Anthony Towns

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