What the table below is telling us is that DET is a top team (+10.9 per 100 Poss) when Cade is on the floor but a 0.500 team with him NOT on the floor. Good for him in the MVP race (he probably deserves is assuming Jokic and SGA don't get enough games), but there is a lot on his shoulders.
+/- Min Poss Per 100
DET +453 2,799 6,205 +7.3
Cade +419 1,818 3,844 +10.9
Rest +34 981 2,361 +1.4
For comparison, here is a similar comparison for Brown:
+/- Min Poss Per 100
BOS +440 2,842 5,647 +7.8
Brown +181 1,812 3,681 +4.9
Rest +259 1,030 1,966 +13.2
Per 100 Poss, BOS has a little better Team +/- (this is a little different than NRtg, but very similar, as the possessions are not the same for offense and defense in the true NRtg calc. Their NRtg are both +8.1 exactly). But the delta between Cade ON/OFF and Brown ON/OFF is much bigger for Cade. He is carrying that team more than Brown is carrying the Celtics.
I don't trust these stats enough to conclude that BOS is better without Brown. A lot depends on how the coach handles the rotations, who these guys end up out there with once the bench starts to get in. But as a general trend, this is representative of reality.
