Cade Cunningham Earns Massive Raise for All-NBA Performance

Remember when Cade Cunningham signed that five-year, $224 million rookie-max extension with the Detroit Pistons last July and everyone said, “Worth it if he makes a leap”?

Well, he leapt—all the way onto the All-NBA Third Team—and the deal just ballooned to $269 million. That’s an extra $45 million for the 23-year-old franchise cornerstone, thanks to the NBA’s “Derrick Rose Rule.”

How the Rose Rule works

The league’s CBA allows players on rookie extensions to jump from 25 % to 30 % of the salary cap if they:

1. Win MVP, or
2. Win Defensive Player of the Year, or
3. Earn an All-NBA nod before the extension kicks in.

Cunningham checked box #3 on Friday, when he was named to the All-NBA Third Team.

Breaking down the new money

Average annual value jumps from $44.8 M to $53.8 M.

Why the Pistons won’t blink

• All-Star résumé: 26.1 PPG, 9.1 APG, 6.1 RPG while dragging Detroit to its best record in 17 years.
• Face of the franchise: Attendance, merchandise, and local TV ratings all spiked in 2024-25.
• Cap flexibility: Detroit still projects to have space in 2026 free agency even after Cade’s escalator.

In other words, paying a true No. 1 pick superstar “only” 30 % of the cap is the cost of doing business in today’s NBA.

The 2024-25 Kia All-NBA Third Team 🔥

Cade Cunningham
Tyrese Haliburton
James Harden
Karl-Anthony Towns
Jalen Williams#NBAAwards | @Kia pic.twitter.com/c1v5wB7H5x

— NBA (@NBA) May 24, 2025

The Bottom Line

Cade Cunningham bet on himself, delivered a monster season, and just earned a $45 million bonus without lifting another finger. For the Pistons, it’s money well-spent if the NBA’s newest $50-million-a-year man keeps them on their first legitimate playoff track since the Going-to-Work era.

Detroit finally has its star. Now it’s time to build around him.