Cade Cunningham’s development has caught the eye of Warriors forward Draymond Green, who solemnly believes the young Pistons guard is playing at an MVP level for Detroit.

Green experienced Cunningham’s growth as an elite playmaker when the Warriors lost 131-124 to the Pistons on Saturday at Chase Center. Cunningham recorded his 26th double-double and led all Detroit scorers with 29 points and 11 assists.

Green discussed Cunningham’s MVP case on Monday’s episode of his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show”.

“The reality is, we have an MVP candidate, an American-born MVP candidate in Cade Cunningham, that does not get the notoriety, does not get the publicity of being an MVP candidate,” Green said. “There’s no chance Cade Cunningham is not a top 3 MVP candidate in the NBA today.”

Green, one of the NBA’s best defenders, credited the 24-year old’s pace as an offensive playmaker, noting that “you can’t speed him up.” Both stars shared a moment of mutual admiration when Green brought his son on the court postgame to meet Cunningham.

The last American-born league MVP was James Harden for the Houston Rockets back in 2018, when Cunningham was a sophomore in high school. Green doubled down on his thought by acknowledging why Cunningham’s superstar emergence correlates with the Pistons’ successful 2025-26 season.

“Number one in the league, leading the league in assists, putting up 27 points a game while leading the league in assists, how is he not in the category for MVP?” Green explained. “I don’t understand, but I think it’s now time that it changed because Cade Cunningham is as special of a player as we have in the league today.”

Detroit (36-12) finished with a league-worst 14-68 record two seasons ago and currently trails the Oklahoma City Thunder (39-11) for the best record in the NBA. Cunningham also ranked No. 1 among players in Eastern Conference All-Star voting last month.

Three voting groups determined the starters for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game:

▪️ Fans (50%)
▪️ NBA players (25%)
▪️ Media panel (25%)

Complete voting results are available here: https://t.co/0YQtBsIaGp

Below are the overall rankings for the top finishers in each conference. pic.twitter.com/W21e8EOvpH

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 19, 2026

Cunningham has developed into quite the star in his short five-year NBA career with the Pistons. He, much like Stephen Curry with the Warriors, is the nucleus of Detroit’s offense. If strong defenders like Green are putting him in the MVP conversation, there likely is a reason.

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