The Pistons' Cade Cunningham is inserting himself into the MVP conversation after an eye-popping performance against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden.
Cade has been a driving force of a dominant Detroit team all season long as their primary offensive engine, and he's drawing comparisons to Derrick Rose.
Rose is the only Bull to win the MVP award outside of the legendary Michael Jordan, and there are plenty of similarities between his 2011 season and what Cade is doing right now.
Cade Cunningham is playing a similar role as Derrick Rose
Like Rose 15 years ago, Cunningham is tasked with elevating the offense of a team built for defense.
In 2011, Rose became the youngest MVP ever when he led the Bulls to a 62-20 record, which was the best mark in the NBA. The Pistons are also currently on pace to finish with a similar record despite lacking other players, besides Cunningham, who are often considered among the top 100 in the league.
In fact, even Cade's would-be offensive co-star, Jaden Ivey, struggled to regain his previous form after injuries. Ironically enough, he was traded to the Bulls and is still struggling to find consistent minutes.
Without that support, Cunningham has been forced to do a lot of heavy lifting as both a scorer and facilitator.
It was a similar story for Rose in his MVP campaign. Besides himself, only Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer averaged over 15 points per game on that Bulls team. And Boozer, who was meant to be the secondary offensive star, missed significant time that season.
Still, Rose fought his way to 25 points and eight assists per game to keep the offense afloat while the team was able to lock down on defense.
Cade is now averaging similar numbers, adjusted to the pace and space of the modern NBA — 26 points and 10 assists per game. Like Rose, he plays with some of the worst spacing in the league, but claws his way to good offense through elite body control and ball handling. Like Rose, he contributes to his team's elite defense while having such a heavy offensive burden.
That two-way impact is what has the 2026 Pistons and 2011 Bulls on pace to outperform supposed super teams — the Big 3 Heatles in Rose's case and the defending champion Thunder in Cunningham's case.
That is perhaps the truest mark of an MVP: The ability to impact winning at a high level.
Both Derrick Rose and Cade Cunningham became MVP candidates through unconventional routes without the flashiest numbers, but their impact and team records cannot be denied. Maybe Cade will shock the world to win the prestigious award this season and become one of the youngest MVPs since Rose.