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DETROIT, MICHIGAN – JANUARY 05: Cade Cunningham #2 of the Detroit Pistons plays against the New York Knicks at Little Caesars Arena on January 05, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan.<\/p>\n
Detroit Pistons<\/a> star Cade Cunningham<\/a> is now eligible for NBA postseason awards after successfully petitioning under the league\u2019s \u201cextraordinary circumstances\u201d clause.<\/p>\n Cunningham, 24, was unable to meet the 65-game threshold after he incurred a collapsed lung in March, keeping him sidelined for 11 consecutive games.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Pistons star had logged 61 games played before sustaining the injury March 17. He returned for the final three contests of the regular season, pushing his season\u2019s games played total to 64. Believing his situation was unique, Cunningham decided to petition, which is allowed under the NBA\u2019s current collective bargaining agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n GettyCHICAGO, ILLINOIS \u2013 FEBRUARY 21: Cade Cunningham #2 of the Detroit Pistons. (Photo by Jayden Mack\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Today, the NBA<\/a> and NBPA agreed Cunningham\u2019s case met the criteria to bypass the games played limit to obtain eligibility for postseason awards.<\/p>\n While that is tremendous news for the face of Detroit\u2019s franchise, perhaps the same cannot be said about Cunningham\u2019s rising star teammate Jalen Duren<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cade Cunningham\u2019s Sidekick Dealt Potential Blow After NBA\u2019s Decision<\/p>\n It is hard to begin illustrating the story of the 2025-26 NBA regular season without mentioning the Pistons.\u00a0<\/p>\n Just three years ago, they were in the doldrums, viewed as the NBA\u2019s punchline. Today, these Pistons are on top of the Eastern Conference with championship aspirations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Detroit finished with a 60-22 regular season record, tying them for the second best record in the NBA. Cunningham has certainly been a driving force in the Pistons\u2019 resurgence, but another integral figure has been Duren, the 22-year-old first-time All-Star.<\/p>\n In the regular season, Duren averaged 19.5 points (up from 11.8 a year ago) and 10.5 rebounds per game while anchoring a top three unit in defensive rating in the NBA. Considering his first All-Star nod and his role in steering the Pistons to the best record in the East, Duren has a convincing case to earn a spot on an All-NBA team.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the kicker: With the NBA and NBPA agreeing to grant Cunningham \u2014 and even Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> star Luka Doncic<\/a> \u2014 eligibility for postseason awards, Duren\u2019s chances to earn All-NBA suddenly drop.\u00a0<\/p>\n Duren, who is still under his rookie contract, is in line for a major payday. Under the Rose Role, a team must pay a player the designated rookie max if he earns an All-NBA selection. But with Cunningham and Doncic back in the fold for major awards, it likely kicks Duren\u2019s case to the side. If he doesn\u2019t capture All-NBA honors this season, Detroit will no longer be obliged to pay him the rookie max extension.<\/p>\n According to NBA reporter Brett Siegel, Duren is potentially in line to lose roughly $40 million<\/a> if he doesn\u2019t make an All-NBA team this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Duren Faces Brutal Reality<\/p>\n Remarkably, Duren\u2019s teammate winning his petition could mean the star big man misses out on some major money. Cunningham is the same player who has perhaps helped Duren the most in developing into an All-Star.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cunningham has been the perfect pairing with Duren. The two Detroit stars have assembled a masterful 1-2 punch all season and have been the engine of the NBA\u2019s newest contender.<\/p>\n Even in games Cunningham was absent this season, Duren didn\u2019t slow down; in fact, he boosted his averages to 22.2 points and 11.4 rebounds per game while shooting over 65% from the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n Is Duren deserving of a spot on one of the three All-NBA teams? Yes, undeniably. Though he still may achieve the honor, both Cunningham and Doncic will almost certainly earn a spot on either the first or second team.\u00a0<\/p>\n Considering only five players can be selected across three teams, Duren is facing stiff competition from 14 other players.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdel Ahmad<\/a> Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Pistons\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty DETROIT, MICHIGAN – JANUARY 05: Cade Cunningham #2 of the Detroit Pistons plays against the New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3773],"tags":[7,296,188,3860,6,297],"class_list":{"0":"post-712138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-pistons","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-detroit","10":"tag-detroit-pistons","11":"tag-detroitpistons","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-pistons"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116417438737171458","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776388954_644_GettyImages-2262888730.jpg\")
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