Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor is joined by John Fanta of NBC Sports to discuss if the Pistons point guard’s resume really stacks up against the defending award winner. Check out the full conversation on “The Kevin O’Connor Show” and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
And, and I, I think it’s worth comparing Cade Cunningham to last year’s Most Valuable Player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
just to understand, like, the difference in SGA and Cade.
Like, SGA is just on another level in terms of scoring efficiency: 67% true shooting to 56.9% for Cade Cunningham.
In the pick and roll, SGA scores 1.2 points per pick and roll to 0.98 for Cade Cunningham.
Isolations, same difference.
Spot-up opportunities, this is like catch and shoot, this is attacking the closeout, pulling up for mid-range, finishing at the basket.
SGA is 1.21 points per spot-up to 0.89 for Cade Cunningham.
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And so when you look at the top 10 MVP candidates by odds, so these are the, the top 10 candidates to- according to the sports books out there.
A- SGA, and no surprise, is number two.
Jokic is number one.
But Cade Cunningham is last of the 10 MVP candidates in true shooting percentage, and so Cade has taken this big leap.
And I d- I don’t mean this out of disrespect, I, I mean this from a place of awareness for Pistons, Pistons fans.
Cade is really, really good, and he’s a, he’s a most valuable player and candidate for the regular season, but I don’t have the trust factor for him yet in the postseason to be the engine, the primary guy to lead your team to a championship, like SGA last year with the Thunder.
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But SGA has the luxury of he’s sitting out here with, with his, with his injury, and on a, on a big Sunday game, Isaiah Joe and Cason Wallace can go out and still help the Thunder, help guide the Thunder past a red-hot Cavs team.
SGA’s surrounded by Jalen Williams, by Chet Holmgren, by championship That team is incredibly well-constructed.
And I think when we headed towards the NBA trade deadline, one of the biggest questions that I was wondering was, you know, will we see Detroit significantly?
You know, will they- will we see something significant happen for them to have the true Robin or the true, you know, Mitchell, Harden-type combo?
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Because if, like, if Cade had that level, that level of a guy with him, I think it would change how you feel about Detroit.
I, I know that you would, but th- this is just in the NBA.
This is what we’ve seen in the NBA playoffs now for years.
Defense amps up.
Your best player’s gonna have a game or two where they just don’t perform to their best ability.
So I’m not blaming Cade as much as when I look at this roster, I say And Oklahoma City’s got the perfect roster, they really do.
But, but when I look at this roster, do I say, “Do they have enough sugar and spice from beyond the arc- Mm-hmm that says, “He getting zoned in, how are they moving the ball?”
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And the other thing is this, and I think he’s done a hell of a job, but JB Bickerstaff has had trouble in the playoffs.
You know, running offense at times, late in games, a discussion point that we have talked about in the past on your pod, has been something that when you’re watching, you say, “Okay, well, what, what were they doing there late in the game?”
So these are the demons that Detroit has to exorcise.
But Kevin, we both know this, the only way that you do it i- is by actually showing up and, and figuring out a way to do it.
The problem is, is that I think the East is, is maybe it’s not better, but it certainly could be deeper than we expected it to be.