SBN Reacts: Cade Cunningham will win Rookie of the Year

Cade Cunningham hasn’t played a game yet for the Detroit Pistons, but he has the backing of NBA fans as the most likely to win Rookie of the Year, according to the latest SB Nation Reacts survey.

Fans were asked to vote on major awards and which team will emerge from each conference in the survey.

With 31% of the vote, Cunningham finished narrowly ahead of Jalen Green who garnered 28%. Third place went to Jalen Suggs with 12%. Davion Mitchell was fourth with 7% and Evan Mobley and Other tied with 6% each.

People are sleeping on Mobley and the kind of impact he can have on a bad Cavaliers team. As for Cunningham, it’s no surprise to see the first overall pick garner support for ROY honors, and while Cade might not have explosive scoring nights like Jalen Suggs, he’s likely to stuff the box score all around. He could be like the guard version of Andrei Kirilenko. Cunningham could average 15 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 stocks (steals and assists), and I’m not sure many people would bat an eye.

People were also asked who would win NBA MVP and Luka Dončić (23%) narrowly edged out Giannis Antetokounmpo (20%) and Kevin Durant (16%). Reigning MVP Nikola Jokic finished in 10th place with 3% of the vote. Sigh …

Voters also opined on who would come out of the Eastern and Western Conference and meet in the NBA Finals. I’m not sure if this a sign of voter fraud (stop the steal) or the omnipresent power of LA Lakers fandom, but the Lakers were the runaway winners with 29% of the vote out of the West. That was followed by the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns with 17% each, and the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors falling at 11%. The Mavericks, who I am not sure will even make the playoffs, finished next with 4%.

In the East, it is the Brooklyn Nets (42%), the Milwaukee Bucks (34%) and then everybody else. The Pistons, shockingly, did not receive a vote in the top 11.

To vote in the Reacts surveys and have your voice heard each week, sign up here. Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.