Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains the best point guard in the NBA, and the reigning champion Thunder remain the best team. Jalen Brunson and the Knicks arguably still represent the standard in the East. But Cade Cunningham and the Pistons are coming.
"They could win a championship this year," Carmelo Anthony said this week on his podcast. (The Thunder) should repeat. But Detroit could get there. They're just made up, they're built different. They're Detroit tough."
And Cunningham, the MVP candidate, is the head of the snake.
"We were having this conversation last year, in the playoffs," said Anthony. "I'm like, 'Yo, listen, is shorty figures this out, if he figures this one thing out, he's unstoppable. It's over. And so far this season, he's figured it out. When you learn how to lead, when you learn how to manipulate the game with the ball in your hands, and I can score, you start influencing the game in all aspects of the game: I can go get a stop defensively if I want to, I can go get a block if I want to, I can shoot the three if I want to, I can put you in the pick (and roll) if I want to, I can dish it to this guy over in the corner if I want to. That's when the game becomes fun for you. And your confidence just goes sky high."
Anthony referenced a certain play in the Pistons' rout of the Knicks last week when Cunningham lowered his shoulder into top defender OG Anunoby to get to the rack in his 29-point, 13-assist performance.
"When you start putting a shoulder into somebody, consistently, that means, 'I'm here. I'm here the whole night,'" said Anthony, the Hall of Famer. "Bro, when he put that shoulder into OG -- went, boom -- I said, Oh, shorty ain't playin' tonight! ... He's different."
In fact, Anthony thinks that Cunningham could eventually become the best point guard in the NBA over the likes of Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP, Jalen Brunson of the Knicks, Tyrese Maxey of the 76ers and Luka Doncic of the Lakers.
Through 33 games this season, Cunningham is second in the league in assists to Nikola Jokic and 12th in scoring. Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander and Maxey are first, second and third in scoring.
"Cade's still figuring it out. But when Cade hits that switch, which he's hitting the switch right now, he will surpass those guys," Anthony said. "6'5, point guard, shoot, defend, post, score, lead. I can't give it to him just yet because it's his third year. You still gotta surpass Maxey, who's been doing it for a while and Maxey has taken a leap. Cade has the opportunity to consistently take leaps every single year, like a Maxey, and those other two (Gilgeous-Alexander and Brunson) are just sitting at the top, like, 'We're going to battle this out and may the best man win.'"
Anthony went on to say, in agreement with longtime former NBA player P.J. Tucker who played against Cunningham in the playoffs last season with the Knicks, that of the five aforementioned point guards, Anthony is the most "aesthetically pleasing" to watch."
"Based off who we love to watch, off our upbringing, off of how we grew up on the game, it would be Cade. Because we're from that era of big guard who really utilizes being a big guard and who appreciates being a big guard. He plays different. He plays similar to how we played," said Anthony. "And he can quietly be first-team All-Defense. He can possibly be a Defensive Player of the Year. When you have that much bandwidth to work with, eventually you will become, as you take those leaps, you will become that."