Cade Cunningham sat at a podium 520 days ago, addressing a group of reporters after his Detroit Pistons coughed up another game down the stretch, this time to a shorthanded Utah Jazz team. It was their 25th consecutive loss.
The then-22-year-old was hunched over, his hands crossed.
“We’re not 2-26 bad, you know what I mean?” he said on Dec. 21, 2023. “Like, no way.”
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On Friday, roughly a year and a half removed from his conviction at the nadir of the worst season in Pistons franchise history, Cunningham capped off his best NBA season with a 2025 All-NBA Third Team selection. Cunningham posted career highs in points (26.1), assists (9.1), blocks (0.8), field-goal percentage (46.9) and 3-point percentage (35.6). He can now say he’s made an All-NBA team in addition to his first All-Star selection.
His honor also comes with major financial implications.
Cunningham agreed to a five-year maximum contract extension in July 2024 that included a provision known as the “Rose Rule.” Named after 2011 MVP Derrick Rose, it allows players who sign a maximum contract extension to negotiate a clause that would give them a raise if they win the MVP, Defensive Player of the Year or make one of the three All-NBA teams. Because Cunningham made an All-NBA team this season, his new contract will start at 30 percent of the 2025-26 NBA salary cap instead of 25 percent. Based on cap estimates, his contract will now be worth a projected $269 million over five years instead of $224 million.
Because of Cunningham’s impending salary increase, which begins next season, the Pistons project to have, at most, $17 million in cap space this offseason. That figure is roughly $3 million more than the nontaxpayer midlevel exception, which makes it unlikely Detroit will dip into its cap space to make offseason signings.
Assuming Detroit does not use its cap space, Cunningham’s jump in salary likely still allows the Pistons to re-sign unrestricted free agents Malik Beasley, Dennis Schröder, Tim Hardaway Jr. and even Paul Reed while still remaining below the luxury tax’s second apron. However, it could lead to financial implications down the road. Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, both 2022 lottery picks, are eligible for rookie-scale extensions, just as Cunningham was last summer.
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The league typically gives teams until the day before the start of the regular season to sign players to rookie-scale extensions. Considering Cunningham’s estimated increase, working out deals to retain Ivey and Duren while avoiding the harsh penalties of the second apron in future years could become more of a challenge for Trajan Langdon and the Detroit front office.
Now that Cunningham has firmly established himself as one of the league’s bright talents and put the Pistons back on the NBA map, what’s next? Detroit owner Tom Gores has lofty expectations.
“I am focused on MVP for him,” Gores said ahead of the Pistons’ Game 6 loss to the New York Knicks. “He has that. Everyone saw it this year that he is a superstar in the making. His ability. His poise. I’ve talked to Cade throughout the season to remind him that so much of the character of this team revolves around his ability to stay strong.”
The 23-year-old Cunningham finished seventh in this season’s MVP voting in his fourth NBA season, receiving one fourth-place vote and nine fifth-place votes. He trailed only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell and LeBron James. Cunningham is the youngest of the bunch by three years, trailing the 26-year-old Gilgeous-Alexander.
A global media panel of 100 voters selected the winner of the 2024-25 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award.
The complete voting results ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/j4nqOAWVT2
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 21, 2025
The same conviction Cunningham had 520 days ago, when few beyond those within the Pistons’ walls believed this level of individual and team success was attainable this quickly, is what now leads him to aim even higher than being named to an All-Star or All-NBA team.
“‘Restore this franchise’ is what we said a lot,” Cunningham said on Feb. 26, after Detroit notched its eighth-straight win for the first time since 2008. “So, to see it come to fruition now is a great thing. I’m happy for the city, but I’m not satisfied at all. I still think there’s a lot more work to do.
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“I think the city wants to see a lot more. The city wants championships. So, we’re slowly building toward that and this is a great start for us.”
What the Pistons’ front office chooses to do this summer to surround Cunningham with a roster suitable for championship contention remains to be seen. But Detroit now has a rough estimate, thanks to Cunningham’s All-NBA nod, on what it will take to build around its cornerstone.
(Photo: Rick Osentoski / Imagn Images)
