The NBA Has No Answer For Cade Cunningham

The NBA Has No Answer For Cade Cunningham

Repeat after me. It is only pre-season. It is only pre-season. But I don’t care if it’s preseason, offseason, summer league, or the Rico Hind runs. What Kade Cunningham is doing right now should put the entire NBA on notice? I mean, what on earth is this? Oh, what? If Michael Jordan did this, that would be considered the greatest slayup ever. No, this time people aren’t lying because how do you catch the ball at full extension with one hand, switch it to your left hand and whilst falling down make the shot. Just look at the other angle if that wasn’t crazy enough. But not only is Cade making MJ type of layups, he’s putting up MJ type of stat lines so far in preeason with him averaging 23 points, four and a half rebounds, five assists on shooting splits of 64,50 90 in 18 minutes a game. And like I said, it is only preseason, but Kate Cunningham is also only 24 years old. And considering the leap he made last year and the fact he finally has a good coach and a consistent supporting cast, are we sure Cade isn’t about to take another leap and go from allstar to AllNBA to MVP? I just mentioned it then, but last year we saw Cade emerge as the superstar that a lot of us thought he could be. Not you ESPN who ranked him 67th in the league behind Malik Monk, Emanuel Quickley, and Chris Middleton. Hey guys, who do you prefer? Emanuel Quickley or Cade Cunningham? Hm. Would you prefer this Ferrari or would you prefer this uh Toyota Corolla? ESPN clearly made their choice. But forgetting about ESPN for a second, we saw Cade make that leap, increasing his points, his rebounds, his assists, his steals, his blocks. Look, he increased everything. Everything. Aside from a slight dip in free throw percentage. Come on, Cade. You got to do better than that. But for the people who have watched Cade Cunningham closely, this wasn’t a surprise. The Pistons winning so many games was surprising, but Cade was always destined to be a star. And Cade is so great that even after having a season like that, you could still look at his game and see areas for him to improve. Areas that if he improved, he would become that MVP level player that he’s capable of being. And so far in two games in preeason, those areas are looking better than before. And the two biggest areas of concern that I’m talking about are his finishing and his turnovers. Like I said, K just played his fourth season. He is already a superstar. He will make all NBA teams for the rest of his career and will contribute to winning every single season of his career. But with his size, his mentality, his skill, his leadership, and intangibles, he is so good that you have to focus on areas of his game that are even slightly below his standards. And last year, those were the two areas with Cade’s game with him averaging the second most turnovers in the league behind Trey Young and him being a below league average finisher. despite being able to do things like that, despite being 66 with a strong frame, great handle, and great touch from every spot on the floor. So, this is why when we look at preeason so far, the fact he’s been finishing well and limiting his turnovers, that’s exactly what I wanted to see. Just look at this play where Isaiah Stewart sets the screen to get him onto Turner and watch Kade backs it out and it’s that nasty hesitation before getting around Gary Trent Jr. and finishing. Or how about in the other game against Memphis, facing fullcourt pressure from Vince Williams Jr., Cade keeps him on his hip the entire way and just when he sees the opening, he hits the gas and gets all the way to the rim. And what I’ve liked from Cade so far in preeason is he looks stronger. His hesitations look just a fraction sharper. He looks a fraction quicker. just all of those little details that can take his game to the next level. It seems as though he’s improved on them. And Kate’s problem with finishing is he’s not the quickest guy in the league. So, he can’t just blow past defenders or throw it down on bigs. He can do it sometimes, but he’s not Jamarant. Which is why I think if he focuses on playing more like Luca Donic and using his pace and his size against defenders with his change of speed, his change of direction, the tempo and control he plays at, that’s what’s going to benefit him. And this really is the difference between Cade being a slightly inefficient scorer and an efficient volume scorer. Because last year, Cade shot 56% at the rim, which was about 4% below league average. Just for reference, Sheay was at 68%. 68. Jaw was at 60. Jaylen Brown 63. Zack Lavine 67. These guys might be more athletic, sure, but even Josh Giddy shot a better percentage at the rim than Cade last year. The spacing hasn’t helped and he has a lot of bodies on him at all times, but there is no way Cade Cunningham can’t get to at least league average as a finisher. And as a result, his efficiency is going to go up as well. I mean, that’s the difference between Cade and Sheay right there. The efficiency at the rim and obviously getting to the line more for Shay, which comes with that efficiency and craft around the rim that he has. But for Cade, we know he can get to the rim consistently, which is the hardest part. He has the jewel threat as a playmaker, which is also great, and he has the size. I think leaning into that size and strength even more will boost his efficiency and his game as a result. And then there’s the turnovers. This is less of an issue in my opinion because when you look at all the players in the league who average the most turnovers, unsurprisingly, they average the most assists and they have the ball in their hands the most. And when you consider Kade is still young, I think he’s just going to get better naturally just from time and experience being in those positions. But again, it’s only preeason, but so far he has looked good handling the ball. Just watch him here get the screen from Stu and watch as he hits that in-n-out dribble, fully committing Jericho Sims so he can then make the dime. Now Kade is still not in the perfect environment as a playmaker or as a scorer because whilst guys like Assad Duran, Ron Holland, Isaiah Stewart bring so much energy and so much on defense and on offense, the spacing still isn’t exactly perfect. It’s why they spent so much money on Duncan Robinson. They need that shooting. But if Cade can do it in these environments, you know, as the team progresses and gets better and better, he’s just going to get better as a result. And speaking of the shooting, we could also talk about his three-point shooting because I personally believe Kate Cunningham has the potential to be a 40% three-point shooter, or at least 38 to 39%. The smoothness of his jumper, the release, his willingness to relocate off the ball. He can hit pull up threes coming off screens if defenders dare to play and drop against him. He has the size to shoot over defenders. We’ve already seen him improve since those first two years in the league when people called him the B- word. Yes, some of us were there when Cade Cunningham was being labeled the B- word. We’ve already seen him improve, but I think he’s got another level to reach. And given he shot 40% from three in college, he shoots 85% from the free throw line for his career. He is a good mid-range shooter and everything else I mentioned, what’s stopping Cade from improving his three-point shot as well? And if he makes these improvements that are all very possible, he goes from one of the 10 to 15 best players in the NBA to one of the very, very best. Because let’s not even talk about the fact he actually plays defense, unlike most of the other elite offensive players in the league. And speaking of someone who definitely plays defense, I also made a video on Assar Thompson, which you might want to check out. Subscribe to the channel for more content like this. Dropping a like would be cool. Have a great day. Bye.

Cade looks better than ever…
My Twitter: https://x.com/6ManYT