Cade Cunningham had a breakout season last year, leading his team to the playoffs and finishing 7th in the MVP voting.
He’s built on that this year, putting together an MVP-level season that could see him finish as high as 2nd or 3rd in the voting, and maybe even win it if certain players miss too many games.
Whatever skeptics were left, (what happened to all of the haters? Where are you, Facebook weirdos?) they have been silenced, but Cunningham still has to prove he can get it done on the biggest stage.
Cade Cunningham: Winning in the playoffs is the next step
The Pistons came up just short against the Knicks last season in the playoffs, a loss they are hoping to avenge this year with a deep run in the postseason.
Cunningham wasn’t bad in the playoffs last season, as he averaged 25 points, 8.7 assists and 8.3 rebounds per game over six games, and no one in their right mind would say he was the reason the Pistons didn’t beat the Knicks.
But Cunningham did struggle at times, shooting just 42 percent from the floor and 17.9 percent from long range while averaging 5.3 turnovers per game.
Most of this was the result of the Knicks swarming him every time he touched the ball and generally making his life difficult.
Cunningham has gotten much better about handling the double teams this season, but teams are going to take the same approach in the playoffs that the Knicks took last year, which is to dare anyone else on the Pistons to beat them.
Even though Jalen Duren has evolved into an All-Star this season, the Pistons arguably had more offensive weapons last year when they at least had more than one player who could knock down a 3-point shot.
Cunningham is going to see plenty of traps and doubles, and he’s going to have to find a way to grind through it more efficiently and with fewer turnovers for the Pistons to have a chance.
One thing hasn’t changed this season, which is that the Pistons still rely on Cunningham to be the engine of their offense, so there will be even more pressure on him this year.
Cunningham has more than proven that he is two-way superstar who can carry an otherwise pedestrian team to the best record in the Eastern Conference, but we all know great players are judged by how they perform in the playoffs, and no matter how good Cade is, it won’t matter if the Pistons don’t win.
Cunningham can answer the final burning question with series win or two and can put himself in an entirely different discussion with a deep playoff run.