Can Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey be these two All-Star guards?
By Tyler Dutton
People will say what they want about JB Bickerstaff. They’ll say he can’t get over the playoff hump, or that some of his rotations including two big men just don’t work. To the playoff hump criticism, I’d say I don’t care whatsoever about that. The Detroit Pistons are in no position to be worried about making it out of the first round. I’m more concerned about not setting record losing streaks and that, Bickerstaff can help with.
In terms of the two big men rotation criticism, I’ll buy that that doesn’t work, but Detroit should be looking at another two players and see if we can replicate their success. In other words, can Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey be Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland?
Cade Cunningham's MIP odds are a great bet. Cade Cunningham's MIP odds are a great bet. dark. Related Story
How do Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey compare to Bickerstaff's former All-Star backcourt?
Let’s start with some physical comparisons of the two groups. On Detroit’s end, we have 6-foot-6 Cade and 6-foot-4 Ivey. For Cleveland, you have the 6-foot-1 Darius Garland and 6-foot-4 Donovan Mitchell. So Detroit has the height and length advantage at the 1/2 positions over the Cavs.
Defensively, it isn’t really close, and that should come to the surprise of no one. JB had the Cavs in the top 5-10 in defensive rating year after year, and the Pistons have struggled for 5+ years to be even competent on that end of the court. Both Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell clocked in leagues better than Cade and Jaden in defensive rating.
Comparing PG to PG and SG to SG, the breakdown is below. Cade has the upper hand on most all categories over Darius Garland. Donovan, though, has Ivey beaten in every stat. Unfortunately for Detroit, the gap between Cade and Darius isn’t large enough to overcome that of Donovan and Ivey.
Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG% | FG3% | FT% | eFG% | DTG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cade | 22.7 | 4.3 | 7.5 | 44.9% | 35.5% | 86.9% | 50% | 120.118 |
Darius | 18 | 2.7 | 6.5 | 44.6% | 37.1% | 83.4% | 52.4% | 115.1 |
+4.7 | +1.6 | +1 | +.3% | -1.6% | +3.5% | -2.4% | -5 | |
Jaden | 15.4 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 42.9% | 33.6% | 74.9% | 49.2% | 120.5 |
Donovan | 26.6 | 5.1 | 6.1 | 46.2% | 36.8% | 86.5% | 54.5% | 111.3 |
-11.2 | -1.7 | -2.3 | -3.3% | -3.2% | -11.6% | -5.3% | -9.2 | |
Cade/Ivey | 38.1 | 7.7 | 11.3 | 43.9% | 34.6% | 80.9% | 49.6% | 120.3 |
Darius/Donovan | 44.6 | 7.8 | 12.6 | 45.4% | 36.95% | 84.95% | 53.45% | 113.2 |
-6.5 | -0.1 | -1.3 | -1.5% | -2.4% | -4.05% | -3.85% | -7.1 |
At face value, comparing the two guards from each franchise isn’t fair. Darius Garland was an All-Star in 2022, and Donovan Mitchell has been one repeatedly since 2019. Cade and Ivey have a combined zero all-star appearances.
But together, I think their duo can be just as devastating as the Garland/Mitchell one. As already pointed out, Cade is statistically better than Darius. It’s not likely that Ivey will surpass Donovan, but if he even closes the gap slightly, the argument can be made. Add in competent defense from both, and some training from Detroit’s new staff (Bickerstaff and Fred Vinson primarily), and we may have something in the backcourt.
JB Bickerstaff has recent history of getting the most out of a talented backcourt and will hopefully do the same in Detroit.
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