2021-22 NBA Rookie Thread (part 2)

[Shy Gorgeous-Al]

He's got a good floor game...just a **** up shot right now.

His On ball D isn't so good, but he is in the right places defensively.

[BoogieTime]

Cade off to the inauspicious start. The quasi injury, now these three games... After SL...

[DCasey91]

Back in July

“Cade Cunningham Final Assessment:

Look I’ll be honest I’m not enamored by Cade’s game not to say I think he’ll be a stinker I just think he won’t be as great as earlier reports was made out to be.

Main Concerns:

1. Foot Movement - Two massive differences that I saw in Cade’s game verses other “slower” paced players. People that watch sports closely know they aren’t slow at all, in fact it’s what you do with your feet that’s most important. Cade has two very very weak points here. Firstly he is a slow mover in that I’m not seeing twinkle toes under there add to the fact he doesn’t have as deep of a trick bag as other “slow moving players”. Never saw really really advanced “tricky moves” to throw the defender in a loop never saw it so I can’t say he has it in his arsenal. Tatum/Pierce/Luka/Mullin etc all have it and then some. Cade does not. Hence why separation is key. Basic stuff will get scouted for and easily read at the next level. He’s closer to RJ in that aspect which I’ll get to further on below.

2. Handle - Some good % of his turnovers just come from having a loose handle. It is loose. Not tight.
Got to get a screwdriver and tighten the handle all the way up. That will help him a lot.

3. Size - I know he’s listed at 6”8” and has an impressive wingspan. But and I say this for a wing he’s sized appropriately. Watching him with his hair tied he’s more 6”7ish (Wrong is a tad smaller in the NBA good size for a (Guard) but nothing too extreme here.

4. Facilitating - Good passer. Advanced for his age on the reads and plays. Didn’t see the special passing chops that was alluding early on so once again can’t comment on it.

5. Heavy reliance on the vanilla not enough chocolate. How do I say this. His shooting is class but it remains to be seen at the next level. Does have a sprinkle of Booker (Booker though once again has a deeper scoring toolkit) but at the next level it’s going to be harder vs better defenders and sized matchups. His interior scoring creating game isn’t the greatest (more physical dependent then skill) and he does do the team thing. I know he can take over the scoring would have like to have seen it more earlier on in the game. At the next level he most likely will have 4-15 shooting games or to that extent.

Positives -

Enough about the negatives here

1. Shooting - Really good especially moreso on the perimeter. Shot it really well for his size. Was tasked with closing out the scoring and did it really really well all things considered. I see more of that at the next level (Scoring/Shooting Wing + Secondary Playmaker/Facilitator). He’s a smart cookie. Worked on the 5 hourglass which should have happened to RJ, so age for age Cade is well ahead. You’ll see more 2nd yr development skilled RJ in Cade imo.

2 - Leadership. Second best leader in the class after Suggs. A team that hasn’t got direction at the top for a long while (Wolves anyone?) would happily take Cade to be their leader. His team performed really well given the talent on that squad which wasn’t all that high let’s be honest.

3 - Base. I mean Cade really does have a very very good base to work from here (up in the air now if the shot is broken). He actually showed sound development transferable skills (shooting) in College which I like.

Overall - Look Cade can be a polarizing prospect but for me I’ve settled on him awhile back. Is he generational? No. But will he be good? Most likely.

Outlook - Here’s where I am at with Cade. A wing (guard) scorer/shooter and an ancillary not primary playmaker/facilitator with solid two way potential ability.

I’d say 20-22/5-6/5-6 is my best guess. Couple of All Stars (3 or more) mixed in between.

For me he falls somewhere in the middle of a more Polished Barrett and a Smaller Tatum/Bigger Hayward with less pop and less finesse.”

He did go 4/17 and will have games just like this one today. His shooting has been disappointing from what I saw back in College play. (Bolded is fixed assessment corrected).

[sodmoraes]

Cade shot is weird, giving me fultz vibes...

[aad]

The dude still put up 18,11.4 with bad shooting just imagine if two of his threes fell

[DroseReturnChi]

yikes cade is getting worse and worse. 4-17. he should warm up in glleague.

[Bruin]

The dude still put up 18,11.4 with bad shooting just imagine if two of his threes fell

I mean putting up 18 points on 17 shots isn’t great, especially when he had 10 free throws

The 4 assists is solid but also not too great with 3 turnovers

11 rebounds is nice though

Realistically his overall stat line is saved by his free throw attempts

[turnaroundJ]

Cade shot is weird, giving me fultz vibes...

nah one thing i always noticed about him was a low release point. his elbow stays below his shoulders. he has to cut that hair off.

[The Moose]

I’m not ready to jump to the conclusion that Cade’s 3pt shot is broken, he was money from 3 in the summer league. I think it’s just a case of rust from the ankle injury and being out of practice for a month

[BoogieTime]

The quasi injury to start speaks to a 'possible' mental deficit

[CptCrunch]

Sengen needs to start and play 34 minutes a game.

[Wargreymon]

…well at least Cade can rebound well for a point guard of his size. 11 boards not too shabby. Showing the ability to draw fouls is a plus as well with 10 free throw attempts.

[buzzkilloton]

I’m not ready to jump to the conclusion that Cade’s 3pt shot is broken, he was money from 3 in the summer league. I think it’s just a case of rust from the ankle injury and being out of practice for a month

Ofc hes going to start hitting shots. Hes already shown he can hit the 3pt shot. Good shooters have streaks of bad shooting esp after having a injury and just 3 games into his career.

Cade just had a terrible shooting night and had 18 10 hes not going to shoot this bad all season. He also just got to the line 10 times.

The haters can try to pick apart his bad shooting night and get on him while they still can. Soon they will all quiet down because hes going to arrive.

[Bruin]

I’m not ready to jump to the conclusion that Cade’s 3pt shot is broken, he was money from 3 in the summer league. I think it’s just a case of rust from the ankle injury and being out of practice for a month

The form looks different imo. Apparently Beilein messed with his shot

[SOUL]

A lot of rookies are very inefficient so using that a factor as to whether or not their games are good seems to be a bad gauge. Looked like Cade did a lot of nice things out there tonight at least.

[DroseReturnChi]

…well at least Cade can rebound well for a point guard of his size. 11 boards not too shabby. Showing the ability to draw fouls is a plus as well with 10 free throw attempts.

he only showed once in his career. SL he drew basically 0 fts. 2 attempt per game is what i expect.

[normgod6]

For those who saw Cade's game, how many of those free throws were off shooting fouls and how many were off in the bonus non-shooting fouls?

[QPR]

Read on Twitter

[LoveMyRaps]

Just another day at the office for Green - 3/14 from the field.

[MotownMadness]

…well at least Cade can rebound well for a point guard of his size. 11 boards not too shabby. Showing the ability to draw fouls is a plus as well with 10 free throw attempts.

he only showed once in his career. SL he drew basically 0 fts. 2 attempt per game is what i expect.

God you hate so much on him, he showed it once in his 3 game career cause 2 summer leagues over rule a entire college season where he shot plenty.