Controversial Cade Cunningham take may actually be right

Cade Cunningham finished a surprising 7th in the MVP voting last season, and one former player thinks he should be leading the race in this one. 

Jeff Teague said Cunningham is the “frontrunner for MVP” on a recent episode of the Club520 Podcast, a controversial take that attracted plenty of argument on social media. 

My first reaction was, “did Jokic retire?” as it’s hard to see anyone beating out a guy who is leading the league in rebounds and assists while averaging 30 points per game with a 67 percent effective field goal percentage.  

Jokic’s team is the 2-seed in the tougher conference, and he is putting up numbers we’ve never seen. The man could end up leading the league in rebounds, assists, and points per game on 62 percent shooting. It’s unprecedented. 

You then have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doing his thing on the best team in the league and Luka Doncic leading the NBA in scoring, and most people would put these guys ahead of Cade Cunningham in the MVP voting. 

As big a Homer as I am, I would probably agree with this, though Teague made some compelling points and even missed a key part of Cunningham’s game that may make his case even stronger. 

Cade Cunningham: The second star and playing defense 

Cade is the best player on the best team in the East, and if they end up as the top seed, he absolutely deserves consideration for MVP, as no one expected the Pistons to be where they are, and he is the primary reason for it. 

The East is widely viewed as the weaker conference, which won’t help Cade’s case, but he has two things in his favor that the other candidates don’t have. 

Cunningham is the only legit MVP candidate without a clear second star, which means he is getting double-teamed and trapped every time he touches the ball. It hasn’t stopped him from being one of the best clutch players in the game this season, nor from putting up monster stats. His 27 points per game are 11th in the league, and he is second overall in assists per game while also adding six rebounds. 

If Cade can get his 3-point shot going, he’ll have a chance to better those numbers, which is impressive considering he doesn’t have a number two to help shoulder the burden. 

Cunningham is also the best defender of the top MVP candidates, which rarely seems to be factored into the voting but should be. Cunningham currently leads the entire NBA in opponent’s field goal percentage when he is the primary defender. 

He also leads the NBA in games with at least 15 points, five assists, two steals and two blocks.  

Cunningham has been getting it done on both ends as a solo star, and his team is the best in the East. That probably won’t be enough to get him an MVP this season, but Cunningham should be a more prominent member of the conversation in the national media.