Cade Cunningham is trying to accomplish a goal he has yet to achieve in his career in the NBA: Play 65 games in a season.
Cunningham played 64 games in his rookie season, missed almost all of his second year, and played just 62 games in last year’s tragedy.
The 65-game mark now means something in the NBA, as it is the minimum number of games played to be eligible for postseason awards, a rule I am not sure I completely like or agree with, but one that exists all the same.
For Cunningham and many others, garnering a postseason award is more than just for ego, as it means a whole lot of extra money in the pocket.
An unfortunate string of injuries has put Cunningham in a position to enrich himself even more next season.
NBA Injuries: Victor Wembanyama, Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis
I never cheer for or am happy about injuries, as this is just a dumb sport and I would never wish harm on anyone over something so trivial. As a fan, I also want to see the best players play.
Unfortunately, with the new rules, injuries are going to matter more than ever when it comes to postseason awards, that’s just reality.
With Luka Doncic already ineligible after missing too many games, and now Victor Wembanyama out for the season, the All-NBA teams have two open spots, as those two would have certainly been 1st-teamers.
Anthony Davis is another player on the brink, as he can only miss five more games this year before he is also ineligible for the All-NBA team.
This opens the door wide for Cade Cunningham to snag a spot, which would be the icing on the cake of a great season so far for him, as he was already named to the All-Star team for the first time in his career.
What does this mean for Cunningham? Big money.
Cunningham has an incentive clause in his contract that will bump his pay up to 30 percent of the salary cap if he makes an All-NBA team, which means around $8 million more in just next season alone.
Not a bad payday if you can get it.
I am sure Cunningham didn’t want to make the All-NBA team by default, and he still has plenty of work to do to reach 65 games himself, so nothing is certain, but it’s not his fault other players got injured or that the NBA changed the rules.
I think we’ll see the league re-evaluate this at some point, as we don’t want the All-NBA teams to be too watered down just because a guy had to miss time with an injury.
Players get hurt. Players get sick and teams are invested so heavily in them financially that they are not going to take undo risks to rush them back just to be eligible for a postseason award.
It could have a diminishing effect on how people view these awards and how certain players are viewed historically, so my guess is that the NBA revisits this one.