Cade Cunningham is making his case to be called the best player in the Eastern Conference, but he’s not quite there yet.
Tim Bontemps said he thought Cade was only behind Giannis in the East on a recent episode of The Hoop Collective, though he did get some pushback on the idea from his fellow hosts.
Cunningham does have a solid argument, especially with the Pistons currently leading the Eastern Conference with a 9-2 record and that is with a ton of injuries, so Cunningham has to be given credit for carrying a shorthanded team to 1st place early in the season.
But we can’t overlook what Giannis is doing, and there is one thing holding Cade back from being considered the conference’s second-best player.
Cade Cunningham has to be more efficient, but he needs help
For the record, I agree with Bontemps that Cade is the East’s 2nd-best player, as there is no way I’d take Donovan Mitchell or Tyrese Maxey over him.
I’d also like to add that we are starting to underappreciate how freaking good Giannis is. The guy is leading the NBA in scoring with over 33 points per game, adding 12 rebounds, six assists, 1.3 blocks per game on a .650 effective field goal percentage. Yikes.
The Bucks are right behind the Pistons for now but have beaten up on Detroit like a little brother over recent years, so until Cunningham starts to notch some wins against Milwaukee, that’s not even a conversation, as Giannis is clearly the best player in the East right now.
Cunningham is scoring slightly less than Donovan Mitchell and Tyrese Maxey but is still 9th in the NBA. He’s also 2nd in the NBA in assists per game and is a far superior rebounder and defender than either of those guys.
That’s not to take away from what Mitchell and Maxey are doing so far this season, as both guys are averaging over 30 per game and doing it on amazing efficiency, which is one area Cade is lacking. He's shooting just 44 percent on the season and 29 percent from long range, far below the other top scorers in the East.
Part of this is that Cunningham does everything for the Pistons on offense and gets doubled more than just about anyone in the league.
That’s not an excuse, but Cade is asked to do a lot for his team on both ends, which has led to a slow shooting start early on.
There’s no denying that Cunningham is one of the top players in the East, regardless of how you see him in comparison to guys like Mitchell and Maxey. Giannis hasn’t lost the crown yet, but Cade is coming for it, and he can get closer with a few wins over the Bucks this season.