The Detroit Pistons had their best season in nearly ten years during the 2024-25 NBA season, which was thanks in large part to point guard Cade Cunningham. The 23-year-old had the best season of his young career, having been named to his first All-Star team while turning 14 wins the season prior into 44 victories.
Pistons Star Makes Bank Due To All-NBA Nod
And thanks to what is his biggest accomplishment yet, Cunningham will now have $45 million added to his long-term contract.
The names of those who qualified for the three levels of the All-NBA Teams were announced on Friday afternoon. The usual guys like Nikola Jokic, Stephen Curry, and LeBron James were present, but there were a small handful of players making their first appearances on the list. One of them was Cade Cunningham, who was named to the All-NBA Third Team, his first major honor outside of his All-Star nod.
Cade Cunningham has been named All-NBA Third Team for the first time in his career.#DetroitBasketball pic.twitter.com/BFtjH7U5Z5
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) May 23, 2025
Due to a clause in his rookie extension that is set to kick in next season, Cunningham is set to earn $45 million more over the course of five years than he was before. Included in the contract is an incentive boost, one that increases his salary from 25% of the salary cap to 30% if/when he is named to one of the three levels of All-NBA.
Thanks to Friday’s honor announcement, the total overall value of Cunningham’s deal is set to increase from $224.2 million to $269 million. Instead of earning $38.6 million in 2025-26, he will instead bring home $46.3 million.
Cunningham joins Evan Mobley in earning an extra $45M.
Mobley met the criteria when he won Defensive Player of the Year. https://t.co/jgIM2Nk8wO
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) May 23, 2025
Cade Cunningham has seen drastic improvement every year that he’s been in the NBA. His scoring average has increased each season after scoring 17.4 points per game as a rookie, a number that jumped to 26.1 points per in his fourth season in the league.
That number ranked 7th in the NBA this past regular season, ahead of guys like Jalen Brunson, Steph Curry, and LeBron James.
The Pistons made their first postseason appearance in six seasons, and just their third since 2008. They came up short against the New York Knicks in the first round, but showed the promise needed to potentially be able to take another step next season.
