Get ready for the debates about the Most Improved Player award.
Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham is currently the odds-on favorite at -150 to take home the NBA's Most Improved Player award, according to BetMGM. The former No. 1 pick has taken his game to new heights to lead the Pistons to a stark 15-win improvement from 2023-24 with legitimate playoff hopes with 25 games remaining in the regular season.
Of course, a former top pick winning Most Improved will spark conversation about whether or not the award is meant for players of Cunningham's pedigree entering the league, just as it did three years ago when former No. 2 overall pick Ja Morant took home the award over his teammate Desmond Bane.
Cunningham is a slight favorite over Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell, who the Pistons play at home on Monday night. Powell, whose odds are +120, slid into a high-volume shooting role for the Clippers in the wake of Paul George's departure and has become one of the most reliable off-ball scorers in the NBA. Based on the odds, it is a two-man race with the player third in betting odds, Tyler Herro, sitting at +2000.
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Cunningham has increased his averages across the board while improving his shooting efficiency to lead the Pistons to one of the biggest one-year turnarounds in NBA history. He is the main reason why the Pistons are likely to reach the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2018-19.
Two of the other main factors in Detroit's turnaround are also in the conversation for end-of-season awards.
Sharpshooter Malik Beasley is tied for second in odds for Sixth Man of the Year thanks to his lights-out shooting all season, while coach J.B. Bickerstaff is second for Coach of the Year after orchestrating the turnaround.
Here is a quick look at all three Pistons' cases for end-of-season honors.
As the best player on the league's worst team last year, Cunningham averaged 22.7 points, 7.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 44.9% from the field and 35.5% from 3 on 5.4 attempts per game in 62 appearances. He had a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio while shouldering the offensive burden on a team that ranked 27th in points.
Cunningham has remained the star of Detroit's offense and has shown stark improvements in each area while also benefitting from more talent on the roster around him. In 52 games so far, Cunningham is averaging 25.7 points, 9.5 assists and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 46.1% from the field and 36.3% from 3 on 6.4 attempts per game. His assist-to-turnover ratio remains just above two as defenses tilt as much attention as possible toward him. But he's found ways to impact the game more often on offense while being a serviceable to plus defender on the other end.
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His improvement has had a direct correlation with the Pistons' overall jump. Detroit is on pace to triple last year's win total of 14 and reach the playoffs as a top-six seed if they continue their above .500 pace in 2025.
Powell, who finished fourth in Sixth Man of the Year voting the last two seasons, increased his scoring average from 13.9 points as a reserve last year to 24.2 points as the starting shooting guard for the Clippers this year. He is shooting 42.8% from 3 on 7.8 attempts per game, nearly three more per game than last year. His scoring has been key for the Clippers, who are currently the sixth seed, to maintain their position as a playoff team in a stacked Western Conference.
Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard is the current favorite for the award at -170, while new Cleveland Cavaliers forward De'Andre Hunter and Beasley are tied for second at +450. Pritchard has yet to start a game for Boston's stacked roster while playing 27.8 minutes per game. He is averaging 13.9 points and 3.5 assists as a premiere 3-point specialist shooting 41.2% from deep on 7.8 attempts per game.
Beasley signed with the Pistons in free agency on a one-year deal to add a veteran sharpshooter to the roster. The move from first-year president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon has worked better than anticipated with Beasley's shooting providing a key scoring pop during the Pistons' turnaround. Beasley has 12 starts in 57 appearances to qualify for the bench award.
He ranks third on the Pistons, averaging 16.6 points per game off the bench while shooting 42.3% from 3 on 9.4 attempts per game. He is putting together one of the most efficient, high-volume 3-point shooting seasons in NBA history.
Hunter, who Cleveland acquired at this year's trade deadline, has appeared in 47 games with just five starts for the Atlanta Hawks and Cavaliers. He is averaging 18.3 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 46.3% from the field and 40.4% from 3.
Kenny Atkinson, Bickerstaff's replacement as the Cavaliers coach, is the runaway favorite at -1000 while Bickerstaff is second at +800.
Atkinson's case is fairly simple: He is the coach of the best team in the NBA. The Cavaliers did not do much to alter the roster in the offseason, but Cleveland went from the fourth seed in the East last year under Bickerstaff to having a six-game lead over the Celtics for the No. 1 seed with 25 games left.
Bickerstaff was brought in to establish a culture that had withered in Detroit over the last half-decade. The Pistons have shown stark improvements on both ends of the court, led by Cunningham, to reach a position of potentially making the playoffs. The Pistons added veterans like Beasley and Tobias Harris to lift the floor, but most of the roster from last year's struggles returned. And the coach has found a way to get more out of that roster.
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at [email protected].
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