Draft Profiles: Cade Cunningham (Bonus: Open Thread, USAB and NBA Finals)

Good evening CtB!

Tonight, we have two Cleveland Cavaliers playing for the Stars and Stripes in an exhibition showcase, NBA Champion Kevin Love and Darius Garland. They face Nigeria at 8PM ET on NBCSN. Along with USA Basketball, we have Game 3 of the NBA Finals tomorrow night, at 8PM ET on ABC. Tune in and enjoy!

For your weekend reading pleasure, CtB continues their look at potential draft targets for the 2021 NBA Draft. This evening’s prospect, Cade Cunningham. Let’s dive right in….

The Pros for Cade Cunningham

There’s a reason why Cade Cunningham is seemingly the prohibitive first pick of the 2021 NBA Draft: He’s a scoring, two way wing oozing with playmaking potential. As a freshman at Oklahoma State, Cunningham posted a respectable 57.4% TS on superstar-level usage (29.1% usage rate). Of particular note is his elite shooting touch, posting an 85% free throw percentage and 40% three point percentage on nearly six attempts per game. He has a pure jump shot that will create space in the paint for himself and the team. He has the requisite length and athleticism to make plays on the defensive end (2.5% steal percentage, 2.3% block percentage), and the requisite offensive IQ to make plays on the offensive end (3.5 assists per game). He will need to show growth in his decision-making and vision/anticipation to become a complete offensive weapon who can initiate offense, but can come in immediately and make a difference to an NBA offense with scoring and secondary playmaking.

Cade Cunningham isn’t just pure talent, he showed the ability to lead a team to wins. Oklahoma State had a successful season, with a winning record in conference play (11-7) as well as a .700 winning percentage overall (21-9). He was able to put together a top resumé performance (28 points, eight rebounds, five assists) in the Big 12 Conference tournament, beating the eventual NCAA Champion Baylor Bears in the conference semifinals. Cunningham and USC’s Evan Mobley had the two most impressive performances of the college season in terms of star players elevating the talent around them. With Cade Cunningham, the Cavs would be getting both a guy who can get his own bucket, but also a guy who can impact team success.

The Questions about Cade Cunningham

It is a tough task to poke holes in Cunningham’s game, especially given the context of his situation at Oklahoma State. Critics will point to his assist percentage (20.4%) and his field goal percentage inside the arc (46.1%) as evidence that Cunningham is overrated as a playmaker and isn’t an elite finisher inside the arc. These critiques can be explained by looking at Oklahoma State as a team. Cunningham’s teammates were awful floor spacers, which led to Cunningham facing completely packed paints, especially in the college game with no defensive three-second violations. As a team, Oklahoma State ranked outside the top 200 in the NCAA in three point percentage. Outside of Cunningham, nearly all of Oklahoma State’s three point attempts were taken by guys who averaged under 35% from three on the season. The one Oklahoma State teammate of Cade’s that was above 35% averaged less than one three point attempt per game.

When examining the lack of playmaking by Cunningham over the course of the season, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Oklahoma State’s roster boasts only two players among the top 100 Recruiting Services Consensus Index Rankings by Basketball Reference, both of whom barely make the cut (Rondell Walker ranked #76, Matthew Alexander-Moncrieffe ranked #94). It’s probably safe to assume that Cunningham will have been the only NBA-level prospect at Oklahoma State for the 2020-21 season. Cunningham’s ability to raise the level of play surrounding him should be unquestionable.

Final Thoughts

There has been no shortage of bombshell reports in this NBA draft season regarding Cade Cunningham. First, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reported that the Detroit Pistons are considering trading down from the first pick. Chris Fedor was able to corroborate that the Cavs were open to trading up. So, the two obvious questions: 1. Are the Pistons actually considering a trade down? and 2. Should the Cavs make it happen?

It’s not unreasonable to think the Pistons would be open to trading down to the third pick. The ability to come away with Jalen Green or (especially and more likely) Evan Mobley and future draft capital is something a talent starved team such as the Pistons ought to consider. Detroit’s interest in trading down is less an indictment about Cunningham and more about how good the top three prospects are, along with the desperate need for Detroit to keep adding talent.

So, should the Cavs pay the price to move up? According to Fedor’s report, a NBA executive theorized that it would take the Cavs at least the third pick, a future unprotected first round pick, and one of their last three top draft picks  (Sexton, Garland, or Okoro). If that’s the framework, then it probably behooves the Cavs to pull the trigger no matter what, although one would have to think that if there’s one “untouchable” player for the Cavs it’d be DG. A DG/Ice/Cade backcourt trio has the potential to turn sad Kevin Love into glad Kevin Love. Let’s hope that Koby Altman has the guts to pull the trigger if all it takes is Sexton, the third pick, and future first, although facing a Raging Young Bull four times a year in division could be a future problem… nevertheless, GET IT DONE KOBY!!!