Cade Cunningham isn't an MVP finalist, but he's the playoffs' most valuable player

The Pistons' star is carrying a burden larger than anyone else's, and he'll need two more elimination-game gems to stay alive

Brad Botkin

May 15, 2026

2:57 pm ET

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7 min read

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Cade Cunningham is eligible for regular-season awards despite falling short of the 65-game threshold. The NBA and NBPA to agreed to waive the 65-game rule in light of the collapsed lung that cost Cunningham 12 games late in the season.

Though he's a lock for at least second-team All-NBA, Cunningham will not be winning MVP. Nikola Jokić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama have been announced as the finalists. This isn't to say, in any fashion, that all three of those guys are not deserving finalists or that any of them would be anything but a warranted winner.

But as these playoffs continue to prove, no player is more valuable to his team right now than Cunningham is to the Pistons.

A one-man show

Their elite defense notwithstanding, to say the Pistons -- who are down 3-2 in the second round against the Cavs and need a win in Friday night's Game 6 to keep their season alive -- would be sunk without Cunningham would be putting it mildly. He isn't the engine of the offense; he is the offense (with all due respect to Tobias Harris). Cunningham's 32.5% usage rate leads the postseason among all players playing at least 20 minutes per game, and so far in these playoffs he has either scored or assisted on almost half of Detroit's total field goals and points.

He is doing all this despite being the full focus of the defenses he has faced (more on Detroit's complete lack of a credible second option later). One of which was a demolition-derby Orlando unit that threw multiple huge, physical defenders at him everywhere he turned for seven games.

Detroit got down 3-1 in that series, only for Cunningham, against the toughest defense he'll face at any point in the East playoffs, to score 109 points over the following three elimination games, That tied LeBron James (2016 Finals vs. Golden State) and Jamal Murray (2020 first round vs. Utah) for the most points ever scored in Games 5-7 of a series while overcoming a 3-1 deficit.

Cade vs. MagicPointsFGFTGame 5

13-23

14-14

Game 6

10-23

10-12

Game 7

10-18

8-10

In Game 6 of that series, Orlando had the Pistons down 24 only for Cunningham to outscore the Magic, 24-19, by himself in the second half. Two days later, he became the first player in history to post at least 30 points, 10 assists, two blocks and two 3-pointers in a Game 7, and he cleared those filters comfortably with 32 points, 12 assists and four 3-pointers.

All told, Cunningham leads the playoffs in points, assists and minutes. His 219 assist points are also No. 1 in the playoffs, per PBP stats. He's shooting over 42% from 3, and 46% in this series against the Cavs. His 360 points so far in these playoffs are the fourth most in history for a player age 24 or younger through the first 12 games of a postseason run. This is Michael Jordan territory.

He is having to do all this just for the Pistons to be passable offensively. Their 110.8 offensive rating, which would've ranked 25th in the regular season, ranks seventh in the postseason, and among all teams still alive, only the Timberwolves are worse.

The Pistons' problem

That offense might be good enough to survive given Detroit's defense if Cunningham could play the entire game, but even he needs at least a few minutes rest. And in those few minutes? Forget about it. The Pistons get blitzed. So far in these playoffs, they are plus-53 with Cunningham on the floor, and minus-20 with an atrocious 96.7 offensive rating without him. For some perspective, here are the offensive ratings of the other five remaining playoff teams when their superstar sits.

- Thunder without SGA: 126.6

- Spurs without Wembanyama: 112.8

- Timberwolves witout Edwards: 112.2

- Cavaliers without Mitchell: 110.7

- Knicks without Brunson: 110.5

Even the Nuggets maintained a 104.4 offensive rating without Jokić in their first-round series vs. Minnesota. And that 126.6 rating OKC is rocking with SGA on the bench? That's actually better than the 124.4 they are registering with him on the floor. You want to talk about a luxury? Try being the likely back-to-back MVP and your team getting better offensively in the playoffs without you.

Suffice it to say, Cunningham does not enjoy that luxury. The Pistons are plus-53 in with Cunningham on the floor in these playoffs and minus-20 when he's off. In Game 5 against Cleveland he put up 39 points, eight assists and seven boards on 6-of-10 3-point shooting and it still wasn't enough. His second-leading scorer was Daniss Jenkins, who wasnt even on a full-time nba contract until February. Cunningham's All-Star wingman, Jalen Duren, had nine points and got benched in the fourth quarter.

Let's talk about Duren for a minute. He