Last season the national NBA audience discovered what Detroit Pistons fans already knew: Cade Cunningham is the real deal and one of the best players in the league.
Cunningham had toiled in obscurity on the worst team in the NBA for the first three seasons of his career, one of which he missed almost entirely due to injury.
The dreaded “B” word was starting to be thrown around by people who had mostly not seen the guy play, as no one but the diehards and masochists were watching the Pistons.
He exploded onto the national scene last season, making his first All-Star and All-NBA teams while leading the Pistons to 44 wins and a first-round playoff appearance, their first in six years.
That success brings expectations, but Cade Cunningham is also getting the recognition he deserves after finishing a surprising 7th in the MVP voting.
National reporters are all in on Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons
On a recent episode of The Athletic NBA Daily, the hosts debated the over/under for every team and all three went over on the Pistons, mostly because of Cade Cunningham.
Zena Keita, Es Baraheni and Andrew Schlecht all thought the Pistons would easily clear 45.5 wins next season and that Cade Cunningham would continue to climb the MVP rankings. Schlecht is a beat writer for the OKC Thunder, so knows a thing or two about MVPs.
They did mention the loss of Malik Beasley as significant and it is, as he was arguably the Pistons’ second-best offensive player last season and opened the floor with his shooting.
But he was also a poor defender, so the tradeoff between him and Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert should be somewhat balanced by their more versatile all-around games.
The hosts also mentioned the continued growth of Cade, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren as reasons not to be too worried about Beasley, as their improvement should help make up for his absence, especially when you factor in the return of Jaden Ivey, who could be the biggest X-Factor for the Pistons next season.
Pistons fans have long known that we had a potential MVP candidate in Cade Cunningham, but it’s nice to see him get his flowers from the national media. However, the Pistons do have to stay realistic and grounded this summer, as they haven’t accomplished anything yet and have to prove they are on a sustainable path to winning a title.