In one of the tightest races in NBA history, the battle for the ROY award was as competitive as could be. Between Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes, and Evan Mobley, the competition for the 2022 NBA Rookie of the Year was bound to be a close call. Each of these first year phenoms had great seasons and were more than deserving of it.

However, Cunningham had the strongest case for the prestigious award and his play all throughout the regular season is a further testament to this. With season averages of 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game, Cunningham showed a ton of promise and an unquestionably high superstar ceiling. Let's now take an in-depth look at Cunningham's case as this year's ROY after getting robbed by Barnes.

Cade Cunningham: 2022 Rookie of the Year Case

For starters, Scottie Barnes is on a playoff team and isn't the best player on that team either. Sure his future with the Toronto Raptors is bright and he's bound to reach superstardom in the NBA, but he's also benefitted from playing for a championship organization. Led by the stellar play of Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and OG Anunoby, the Raptors fought their way into the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Barnes played a pivotal part in this and continually made strides and improvements throughout the year, but he also has a top-notch head coach in Nick Nurse and savvy veterans to guide and mentor him. On the other hand, Cunningham is the best player on a Detroit Pistons team that only won 23 games this season.

So the fact that he was left off of three Rookie of the Year ballots is absurd to say the least. If anything this will just add more motivation to Cunningham's offseason. His 1.2 steals per game ranked second only to Herbert Jones amongst rookies and his ball-hawking ability gave a struggling Pistons offense some much-needed transition opportunities. Add to that his effective play at power forward and high-level weakside rim protection that further showcased his elite play on defense.

During the 2021-22 NBA campaign, Cunningham was a Swiss army knife for the Pistons who also saw a ton of playing time at both guard spots. Cunningham's court vision and overall feel for the game are truly astonishing. All these accomplishments in just his first year in the league are further proof  that he should've been named 2022 NBA ROY.

Cunningham's continued commitment to developing his game and doing whatever he can to help his team out should have given him stronger consideration as the most impressive rookie star of this NBA year. Granted he does have room for improvement and some weaknesses, but there are few players if any who don't.

His tireless work ethic will eventually make him one of the most complete player's in the sport and earn him the accolades he's more than deserving of. If one thing's for certain, it's that Cade Cunningham will be back with a vengeance in the hopes of leading this young and determined Pistons squad to the playoffs in 2023.