Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dominates field to take first MVP award
Cade Cunningham finished seventh in MVP voting in a field led by MVP winner Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and Nikola Jokic. The Pistons’ star point guard received 12 points from a global media panel of 100 voters. He received one fourth-place vote (worth three points) and nine fifth-place votes (worth one point). He tied with Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves .
Gilgeous-Alexander, the superstar who led the Oklahoma City Thunder to an NBA-high 68 wins. He led the league with 32.7 points per game to go along with 6.4 assists and 5 rebounds. Shai garnered 71 first-place votes, more than twice as many as the next-closest player. Finishing second was Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic, the reigning MVP who has three of the awards under his belt. He averaged a triple-double — 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 10.2 assists. He received 29 first-place votes and 71 second-place votes.
Players finishing two through six were Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, and LeBron James.
Cunningham averaged 26.1 points, 9.1 assists, and 6.1 rebounds in leading the Detroit Pistons to one of the most remarkable turnaround seasons in the NBA. The Pistons were the first team to triple their win total from one season to the next, going from 14 wins to 44 wins and a playoff appearance.
The Pistons lost their first-round matchup to the New York Knicks in six games. Cunningham also was named to his first All-Star team and seems almost certainly to get named to All-NBA second or third team. Getting an All-NBA nod would mean Cunninham’s new contract, which kicks in next season, will go from 25% of the salary cap to 30% of the cap.
That would take his salary from $224 million over five seasons to $269 million. His salary for the 2025-26 season would rise from $38.6 million to $46.4 million. The Pistons will have the salary cap space to easily absorb that hit, but avenues to improve are few, especially if Detroit has designs on re-signing its veteran free agents in Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr. or Dennis Schröder. Detroit is most likely to in Basley to a new deal, and would need to use cap space to do it.
The Pistons anticipate having $19 million in cap space available, presuming Cunningham gets the All-NBA salary bump.