Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham Facing Uphill Battle In MVP Race

Although many had the Detroit Pistons earmarked for a playoff appearance before last season started, few could honestly say that they envisioned a 60-win performance that was strong enough to earn the Eastern Conference’s top seed before the Pistons’ dominance took hold in mid-December. 

From the jump, it was clear that Cade Cunningham was the straw that stirred the Motown drink last season, and his playmaking ability even helped elevate Jalen Duren to an All-Star level during the 2025-26 campaign. With Cunningham running the show, the Pistons raced out to the top record in the East before long, and both Cunningham and Duren were selected to attend the All-Star Game with J.B. Bickerstaff serving as their team’s coach at the mid-year break. 

Cunningham was on the right side of that result, and he kept winning games in Detroit during the second half of the season before a surprise collapsed lung injury suffered against the Washington Wizards nearly derailed his entire campaign. Cunningham missed several weeks in recovery, but fortunately the fifth-year point guard returned in time to lead the Pistons into the playoffs as the top seed. 

Although Detroit’s second round exit from the postseason was earlier than Cunningham would have liked, the Oklahoma State product posted 23.9 points, 9.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game in what was a wildly productive year for a player with such a high usage rate. In truth, the Pistons relied on Cunningham each night to set the tone and give the squad a shot to win with their strong defensive effort, and most nights that was enough to get the job done. When necessary, Cunningham could flex into a more offensively-dominant role in the fourth quarter to help close out a game, which is a role that he assumed at times during the postseason when Detroit’s back was against the wall, but the Pistons’ star guard was partly so effective last year because he learned when to be assertive. 

With such a young team around him in Detroit, Cunningham is the centerpiece of the squad and the most important part of the Pistons’ core, and he received some league-wide recognition with a fifth-place finish for the Most Valuable Player award last season. Of course, Shia Gilgeous-Alexander won his second consecutive MVP, but Cunningham’s inclusion in the top five shows that the NBA has taken notice of Detroit’s rise over the last two years. 

Cunningham had the Pistons in the driver’s seat of the Eastern Conference essentially from start to finish last season, and even though Detroit was able to hold it together when Cunningham went down with his collapsed lung, the team still significantly changed. Moving forward, Cunningham will likely have a more difficult battle to face on the MVP front considering Giannis Antetouknmpo will be healthy again and Tyrese Haliburton is returning from his own injury, plus the Pistons will be expected to compete at a high level once again. Assuredly, Jayson Tatum is going to factor into the MVP race now that he’ll be teaming up with Paul George in Boston as well, so there will be a long list of potential competitors in addition to SGA and Victor Wembanyama out west.

But now that the secret is out about Detroit, it is Cunningham’s job to make sure the Pistons continue to win games, which therein ensures his name will be part of the MVP discussion for years to come. Having more shooters on the perimeter should help Cunningham in the playmaking department this year, so perhaps the Pistons’ offseason activity will positively impact their MVP candidate moving forward.