There is no question this year that the rookies in the NBA are playing great. Guys like Evan Mobley, Jalen Green, Franz Wagner, and others are playing great. However, I believe Cade Cunningham should take home this year’s Rookie of the Year trophy. Despite Cade missing the first four games this season with an ankle injury.
Puts the Team First
Cade has said before that building a culture in the locker room is more important than winning Rookie of the Year. You can see this in his game when he’s unselfish with the ball and always tries to find the open man. He wants to be in Detroit, and he wants to win championships with the Pistons. In his famous draft-day interview, he put on the buffs and said this, “Detroit I’m all the way in, Detroit Pistons I’m all the way in, let’s do this!” It’s hard for the Pistons to find players that want to be here and to be here for the long haul, and Cade wants to be in Detroit. Unlike a guy like Jalen Green who went number two overall, I don’t think he’s a guy that will want to be in Houston after four to five years.
Comparing Cade Cunningham to Other Rookies
As of March 16th, 2022, the Kia Rookie Ladder named Cade Cunningham as their number two rookie only behind Evan Mobley. With Scottie Barnes in third, Franz Wagner in fourth, and Jalen Green in fifth. Currently, Cade leads the rookies with 17.1 PPG. Whereas Mobley, Green, Wagner, and Barnes are all averaging around 15 PPG. Cunningham is averaging 5.8RPG which, is more than the guards in the top of the rookie class. Cade is averaging 5.4 APG which is second among rookies, only behind Josh Giddey. He also has the most steals out of these five with 1.2 SPG.
The Pistons Aren’t That Great
It’s not a secret that the Pistons aren’t going to make the playoffs or make a push for the play-in tournament. Currently, the Pistons are the third-worst team in the NBA with a lousy record of 19-53 with just ten games to go in the season. Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes are both fighting for playoff seeding. The Magic have the same record as the Pistons and the Rockets only have one less win than the Pistons right now. Many times this season we’ve seen Cade make incredible plays and his teammates just don’t finish. The Piston’s leading scorer Jerami Grant missed nearly a month back in January. If Cade had a little more help his numbers would be even better.
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