It’s fitting that the Detroit Pistons are facing the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight, Not only is it Detroit and GM Troy Weaver facing off against his former organization, it is Cade Cunningham going against Chet Holmgren. Or as ESPN might like to refer to it, the NBA’s 74th best player (Cunningham) going against the NBA’s 73rd best player (Holmgren).
Last year, of course, Cunningham was limited to just 12 games. That caused him to drop 39 spots after appearing as the 35th-best player in the 2022-23 version of ESPN’s NBA Rank. His rookie year, Cade was listed at 76.