The Pistons have been getting by for most of this season without much star support for Cade Cunningham, since Jalen Duren has been injured since early in the second game. Recently, reigning 2x MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has found himself in a similar position with the Thunder, as his All-Star teammates in Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren miss time.
Both superstars now bear the weight of carrying their team's offensive production on their own backs while also being strong defenders. It's not a direct comparison, since the Thunder are also missing valuable role players like Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace to injury. But the relative performances of Cade and Shai in this situation can highlight how similar they are in many aspects and how much further Cade still has to go before he's playing like an MVP.
Shai or Cade could show each other how it's done
Since the Thunder first got hit with their injuries, they are 1-2 with consecutive losses now to the Mavericks and Rockets. The loss against Houston can be excused since the Rockets are playing like arguably the best team in the league right now. However, the loss in Dallas does hurt and Shai's performance in that game left a lot to be desired.
On the other hand, the Pistons are 3-1 since Duren went down, and Isaiah Joe followed suit soon after. They've been able to weather the storm of those absences thanks to Cade's additional offensive workload and their overall depth. But they also aren't getting hit with the same level of injury across the roster.
As for the star comparison, Cade is averaging about 24 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists per game in that span while shooting 43% from the field and 33% from three. He's also adding three turnovers per game, another blemish on top of the poor shooting. Shai, meanwhile, is putting up about 24 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game while shooting 49% from the field and 29% from three. He's giving the ball away a bit less too, at 2.3 turnovers per game.
Both superstars will be pushed in the coming stretch
Nothing is coming easy for these players, but their teams' injuries are exposing the true talent gap between them. Shai looks like an unstoppable scoring juggernaut when he's got a great team around him, but that efficiency and even volume can take a dip when his supporting cast is compromised. He's still better than Cade at getting to his spots and scoring efficiently.
But Cade also makes up some of the gap with his rebounding and playmaking for a more well-rounded game. Both are solid defenders too, so there's not much ground won or lost there. But all in all, Cade might be closer to Shai than most realize - and their upcoming solo-star stretches could prove it.
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