Cade Cunningham shockingly high in PG rankings but could climb higher

Cade Cunningham has been a difficult player to evaluate for the Detroit Pistons. 

At times, he has shown the type of franchise-player talent the Pistons hoped they were getting when they selected him with the first pick in the draft. 

But he’s also missed a lot of games, his teams haven’t won and he has turned the ball over a ton. You can blame some of that on the horrible roster around him, and this is what makes evaluating a good player on a historically bad team tough.

Predictions and expectations from the national media when it comes to Cade have been all over the place, with some thinking he’s going to be a superstar while others pick apart his game. 

So, it was somewhat surprising to see him ranked 13th among point guards in recent article by HoopsHype. I agree with it, but I was surprised to see him ahead of LaMelo Ball, James Harden, Derrick White, Darius Garland, Jrue Holiday and Dejounte Murray. 

Here is the list of the guys ahead of him: 

Cunningham is on the cusp of the elite, and if things break right for him and the Detroit Pistons, he could get there. 

How Cade Cunningham can climb the NBA point guard rankings 

You can argue about the rankings as they are, but it’s hard to put Cunningham much higher given his lack of success in the league. 

So the first order of business is to win some games, as Cunningham is never going to get individual recognition until he shows his stats can contribute to winning. 

You can argue talent or all-around impact but every guy ahead of Cade on the list has won and he hasn’t. 

A better roster around him should help, as Cunningham finally has some shooters and should have spacing, so he has to lead the team to an improved record this season or his critics are going to get louder. 

That will require some individual improvements from him, including another uptick in efficiency and improvements on the defensive end. 

With team improvements and another individual leap, Cunningham can definitely crack the top-10 point guards in the NBA next season and end the debate about whether he is a franchise guy.