If you want to see fans of the Detroit Pistons get mad, then show them some player rankings with Cade Cunningham in them.
ESPN has been the biggest villain, as they ranked Cunningham 67th in their preseason rankings of the entire NBA, a joke that they would likely amend now that he is only behind Nikola Jokic and LeBron James in combined points, assists and rebounds this season.
But that didn’t stop Cunningham from dropping out of the top-10 of ESPN’s recent rankings of players under 25-years-old (subscription).
Cade came in just 13th after being ranked 6th a year ago, which set some Pistons fans off and I can’t blame them, as he has improved if anything.
But when you look at the rest of the list, it’s clear why an outsider would feel this way.
Cade Cunningham has to win
I’ve said this a million times, but no one is going to care about Cade Cunningham putting up big numbers as long as his team is losing.
Of the 12 players ahead of Cade on the list, all of them except Victor Wembanyama, LaMelo Ball and Alperen Sengun have made the playoffs. Wemby is the best young player in the game, about to win Defensive Player of the Year and in his second season. I’ll never understand the infatuation with LaMelo but Sengun is on his way to making the playoffs this season.
Here are the players ahead of Cunningham:
-#1: Victor Wembanyama
-#2: Anthony Edwards
#3: Paolo Banchero
#4: Franz Wagner
#5: Chet Holmgren
#6: Tyrese Haliburton
#7: Tyrese Maxey
#8: Evan Mobley
#9: Jalen Williams
#10: Alperen Sengun
#11: Scottie Barnes
#12: LaMelo Ball
Like Cade, all of these guys are putting up big numbers, but unlike Cade, most of them are doing it on good teams.
I think the Tyreses (Hali and Maxey) are ranked a bit high (I like Barnes, Mobley and Williams more) but who exactly should Cunningham usurp on this list?
From an unbiased perspective, it’s difficult to put Cunningham ahead of guys who have played meaningful minutes on playoff teams.
That’s not all on Cade, as every one of those players has been on better teams than Cunningham since he joined the league and, in that time, he has not been the GM of the Pistons, so that his not his fault.
But the individual accolades won’t come until the wins do, it’s that simple.
Cade Cunningham has to cut down turnovers
Many of the best high-usage players in the NBA turn the ball over a lot, that is part of doing business when you have a usage percentage of over 30, which Cade Cunningham does.
But he is leading the league in turnovers per game, and so many of them have been of the unforced variety. It’s not a stat you want to lead the league in, and isn’t a good look for a player trying to establish his credibility with writers who don’t see him play much.
I do, so know that a lot of Cade’s turnovers aren’t his fault or come because the other team is selling out to stop him, but plenty of them come from lapses in concentration and they seem to compound exponentially when things start going badly.
Not everyone gets to watch Cade night in and night out to know everything he brings to the table, and when he’s being ranked against other good players who are putting up big stats, they are going to use things like team success and turnovers as a means to separate guys, which is how Cade Cunningham ends up 13th.
It may not be fair but there is only one way to change the narrative.