Two years ago, the Detroit Pistons were setting records nobody wanted. A historic 28-game losing streak had become the defining image of a franchise that had lost its way. Nobody was predicting a dramatic reversal. Nobody was putting Detroit anywhere near a conference title conversation. And yet here they are, sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference, with the No. 1 seed and a player who is making one of the most compelling MVP cases in the league.
That player is Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft, and according to Hall of Famer Paul Pierce, his case for the award is stronger precisely because of how much his team needs him.
Pierce breaks down the talent gap
Pierce recently offered an assessment of the Eastern Conference’s top four that placed Detroit in an unusual position. His argument was not that the Pistons are bad. It was that compared to the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit is operating with noticeably less talent across the roster. Celtics fans need no reminder of what Boston possesses. The Knicks have remained as deep and versatile as ever. Cleveland, already stocked with multiple All-Stars, added James Harden and Dennis Schroder at the trade deadline to further strengthen its depth.
Detroit, by contrast, is built differently. Cunningham anchors everything. All-Star center Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart form one of the better frontcourt pairings in the conference. Role players like Tobias Harris, Ausar Thompson and Duncan Robinson have contributed consistently. But when measured against the depth those other three teams carry, the Pistons look thinner on paper, and that gap is exactly what makes their standing at the top of the East so remarkable.
Pierce also drew an interesting comparison between Detroit and the Toronto Raptors, who sit sixth in the standings despite not having a player at Cunningham’s level. His view was that Toronto, taken as a full roster, may actually be more talented than Detroit from top to bottom. That framing sharpens the point. If a team with more overall talent is sitting four spots lower in the standings, what Cunningham is doing for his organization comes into focus even more clearly.
The Cunningham argument
The numbers behind Cunningham’s season are straightforward. He is averaging 24.9 points, 10.1 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game, numbers that put him among the elite players in the league regardless of context. He has been the engine behind Detroit’s most important wins and the steadying presence when games get tight. The leadership dimension that Pierce highlighted is harder to quantify but no less real.
The traditional MVP argument leans heavily on statistics and team record. Cunningham has both. But Pierce’s version of the argument adds a layer that often gets overlooked in those conversations. Carrying a team that should not be here, against teams that are demonstrably deeper and more loaded with talent, and doing it well enough to hold the top seed is not something that shows up cleanly in a box score.
What the postseason will reveal
Questions about how Detroit performs once the playoffs begin are reasonable and probably unavoidable. The Pistons will face opponents capable of matching and likely exceeding their depth in every series. How Cunningham handles that pressure, and whether the role players around him can replicate their regular season consistency on a bigger stage, will go a long way toward defining what this team actually is.
But whatever happens in the postseason, what Cunningham has already built in Detroit this season is something worth recognizing now, before the bracket has its say.
