Hoops Nightly
+ Pick your team
Cade Cunningham
Pistons · G · 24
Cade Cunningham
vs
2025-26
Lauri Markkanen
Jazz · F-C · 29
Lauri Markkanen
Head to head · 2025-26 regular season · stats.nba.com

Cade Cunningham vs Lauri Markkanen

8-9categories
Cunningham · Markkanen
CunninghamMarkkanen
64Games
availability
42
33.9Minutes
per game
34.3
23.9Points
per game
26.7
5.5Rebounds
per game
6.9
9.9Assists
per game
2.1
2.2Steals + blocks
per game
1.5
3.7Turnovers
per game · lower is better
1.5
46.1%Field goal %47.7%
34.2%Three-point %
5.7 vs 7.7 attempts
35.5%
81.2%Free throw %89.6%
56.4%True shooting
TS%
60.8%
29.6%Usage
USG%
26.9%
43.0%Assist %
of teammates' baskets
10.1%
7.9%Rebound %
of available
9.4%
+11.4Net rating
on court
-1.5
15.9%PIE
player impact estimate
13.9%
+8.1Plus-minus
per game
-1.3

Where the gap is

from the numbers above

Lauri Markkanen scored more in 2025-26, 2.8 points a game apart (26.7 vs 23.9), on Cunningham's heavier usage (29.6% vs 26.9%).

Markkanen is the more efficient scorer by true shooting, 60.8% to 56.4%; TS% folds threes and free throws into one number, so the gap survives shot-diet differences.

Playmaking goes to Cunningham (9.9 vs 2.1 assists), the glass to Markkanen (6.9 vs 5.5 rebounds).

Availability is part of the comparison: Cunningham played 22 more games (64 vs 42 of 82).

With Cunningham on the floor his team outscored opponents by +11.4 per 100 possessions, against -1.5 for Markkanen; on-court net rating carries the teammates with it, so read it next to PIE.

On the books for 2026-27: Cunningham $50.1M through 2029-30, Markkanen $46.1M through 2028-29. Whether either fits a trade is a Trade Machine question, not a stat one.

Splits

2025-26 · from the game logs
CunninghamMarkkanen
47-17Record when playing17-25
22.5Points at home28.1
25.1Points on the road25.6
23.5Points in wins29.5
25.2Points in losses24.8
46Season high51
1330-point games13
38Double-doubles5
Cunningham · last 5
Sun, May 17 vs CLE13 pts · 4 reb · 5 ast
Fri, May 15 at CLE21 pts · 2 reb · 8 ast
Wed, May 13 vs CLE39 pts · 7 reb · 9 ast
Mon, May 11 at CLE19 pts · 3 reb · 6 ast
Sat, May 9 at CLE27 pts · 10 reb · 10 ast
Markkanen · last 5
Mon, Feb 23 at HOU29 pts · 3 reb · 2 ast
Wed, Feb 11 vs SAC19 pts · 7 reb · 3 ast
Mon, Feb 9 at MIA17 pts · 8 reb · 1 ast
Sat, Feb 7 at ORL27 pts · 7 reb · 1 ast
Thu, Feb 5 at ATL18 pts · 5 reb · 1 ast
Cunningham · contract
2026-27$50.1M
2027-28$53.8M
2028-29$57.5M
2029-30$61.2M
Markkanen · contract
2026-27$46.1M
2027-28$49.8M
2028-29$53.5M

More comparisons

pick any two players →

Per-game numbers and percentages are 2025-26 regular season from stats.nba.com; splits and last games from our own game logs; contract figures are cap hits from public salary data and can lag a signing by a day. Bold marks the better number in each row (turnovers: fewer is better).