Last Chance to Buy Low on Cade Cunningham for NBA Rookie of the Year

Detroit Pistons guard and No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham is starting to make his case for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award this season, but he still is well behind Evan Mobley in the latest odds at WynnBET. 

Mobley is a major favorite at -250 odds, while Scottie Barnes (+500) and Cunningham (+700) are the next closest contenders. 

However, as good as Mobley has been (15.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists per game), Cunningham is starting to really round into form with 2.5 months to go in the 2021-22 season. 

Since returning from the league’s health and safety protocols, Cunningham has been on a tear. He’s averaging 17.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game while shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from beyond the arc in his last 13 games. 

These aren’t crazy numbers, but the efficiency is what should get Pistons fans, and any Cunningham bettors excited. 

In the 2021-22 campaign, Cunningham is shooting just 40.8 percent from the field and 33.5 percent from beyond the arc, but he has clearly started to score a little easier at the NBA level. 

In his last 13 games, Cunningham has shot over 46 percent from the field in nine of them. For comparison, he started his NBA career with just three such games in his first 15 contests. 

Mobley is the rightful favorite to win this award, especially since he has helped transform the Cleveland Cavaliers into a playoff contender this season, but it would be foolish to overlook Cunningham at +700. 

He and Barnes are the only rookies that truly can threaten Mobley, and the Rookie of the Year award is usually based more on the player’s counting stats than their team’s success. 

That benefits Cunningham, and if he can continue to improve as a shooter, he’s going to finish the season with averages that could rival 20-6-6. Those stats would make it hard to argue that he isn’t the league’s best rookie, or at least the best after Mobley.