Pistons guard Cade Cunningham is expected to return to action on Wednesday when the team hosts the Bucks in Detroit, reports Vincent Goodwill of ESPN (Twitter link).
Cunningham has missed the Pistons’ past 11 games, having exited a March 17 contest after playing just five minutes due to what was initially referred to as back spasms and was later said to be a back contusion. However, two days later, word broke that he had a collapsed lung, with reports at the time indicating that he was facing an extended absence.
Before being diagnosed with left lung pneumothroax, Cunningham looked like a strong candidate to show up on MVP ballots. Across 61 games for the East-leading Pistons, the fifth-year guard has averaged 24.5 points, 9.9 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 34.4 minutes per contest, with a .461/.346/.814 shooting line.
However, with only three games left in the regular season, Cunningham won’t be able to reach the 65-game minimum required for award consideration. That will make him ineligible for MVP votes and a spot on an All-NBA team unless the league grants him an “extraordinary circumstances” exception.
Still, Cunningham’s award eligibility is a secondary concern for the 57-22 Pistons, who will enter the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s top seed. Detroit has played well without its leading scorer in recent weeks, winning eight of 11 games with a pair of overtime losses during that stretch, but they’ll need a healthy Cunningham in order to have a realistic shot at making a deep playoff run.
Cunningham, who is still formally listed as questionable on the Pistons’ latest injury report, figures to be on a minutes restriction on Wednesday if he’s cleared to return.
That extraordinary exception deal is a super slippery slope and a bad idea. There is no definition for it.
All in a blink will be making cases for themselves which will unleash major chaos.
Its not worth the handful of votes.
The bad idea is the 65 game requirement. It was meant to discourage load management, but there are several players who won’t be eligible for awards (larger contracts for some) because they are legitimately injured. They should still be eligible for awards. Let the voters decide.
The voters only want the most romantic, popular and hero ball players to be in position to finish in a not unimportant top three finish. It will be nothing but lobbying going on to who should win or place. Which is based on what the media wants to see.
The inmates can not be allowed to run the asylum.
60 games is as low as an adjustment can be made.
It’s bad for who? The players? Because they’re the one responsible for the rule?
Absolutely not a fan of changing the rule AFTER it blew up in their face when it was extremely obvious that if they allowed this rule to pass that this would happen. Sleep in the bed you made. Don’t change it until the next CBA.
If everyone’s going to cry because Embiid won an MVP, they can cry because their favorite player won’t. GROW UP.