Fade4Cade becomes Suck4Suggs after Jalen Suggs Incredible Night

If the Toronto Raptors land a top draft pick, they'll have lots of talent to pick from with Jalen Suggs, Cade Cunningham, and Evan Mobley all atop draft boards

Aaron Rose | Apr 4, 2021

Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

A disappointing 2020-21 NBA season for the Toronto Raptors has a lot of fans looking toward the future.

A week ago when I asked Raptors fans on Twitter if they wanted to tank and see the young players get more playing time or go for it this season, 76% of the over one thousand respondents said they were comfortable tanking to wrap up the season.

Raptors Poll: How do you want the final 25 games to play out?
— 𝐀𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞 (@AaronBenRose) March 30, 2021

So far this year, that has meant #Fade4Cade, a hashtag associated with this year's tanking effort and the presumed top pick in this year's draft Cade Cunningham. Last night's incredible Gonzaga Final Four victory, however, may have swayed some minds to #Suck4Suggs and the Jalen Suggs bandwaggon.

Canadian basketball scout Wesley Brown helped breakdown the top five in this year's draft.

1. Jalen Suggs

Suggs is a 6-foot-4 freshman from Gonzaga who has been in the mix as a presumed top-three player in the 2021 Draft but has been heating up lately thanks to the Bulldogs' incredible tournament. On Saturday night he made key plays at both ends of the court culminating in a buzzer-beating half-court 3-pointer to send Gonzaga into the finals.

🗣 The radio call. You have to listen. @VoiceofGonzaga & Adam Morrisonpic.twitter.com/HpXwAtlme3
— Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) April 4, 2021

"Suggs lets the game come to him, he doesn't force his offence, he's a pass-first guy," Brown said. "He defends the hell out of the ball and he has great hands on the ball. He makes winning plays all over the floor, like you saw last night with the block at the rim and the bounce pass in transition that was unbelievable to Timme for two points late in the game, and then he makes the game-winner because he's a winner.

"Mentally he's built of something special, his ability to process the game and his basketball IQ is absolutely off the charts and that to go along with his elite athleticism. He's one of the more fluid athletes I've ever seen."

Suggs still has a little work to do refining his shooting, finishing, and ball skills a little bit. He's shooting just 33% from behind the arc this season. But Brown chalks some of that up to the fact that Suggs split his childhood going back and forth between football and basketball and hasn't spent nearly as much time working on his basketball skills as some of the other top prospects.

"He’s a winner," Brown said. "It's too hard to pass on a guy that's a winner and an elite athlete when the goal is trying to win."

2. Cade Cunningham

The 6-foot-8 Cunningham was the top prospect coming out of high school and has widely been projected to be the top pick in this year's draft. He's shown nothing this season to really dissuade teams from picking him atop the draft and culminated his lone season at Oklahoma State averaging 20 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists.

"He shot the ball very well," Brown said. "He proved that not only can he shoot on the catch, but he can create his own shot. He’s a size mismatch in the post. He can be probably a secondary playmaker in the NBA, I don't think he's a point guard.

"There are just not many 6-7-6-8 players that can handle, shoot, make plays for others, get to the rim, and post up. So his stock has honestly stayed pretty consistent all year."

There's really no knock on Cunningham, Brown said. He sees the Cowboys star as a future NBA All-Star, but his ceiling is just a little bit lower than Suggs'.

3. Jalen Green

The 6-foot-6 Green is expected to be the first player ever selected from the NBA's new G League Ignite team. He spurned the traditional college process to join the G Leauge this season where he averaged almost 18 points on 46% shooting and 36.5% 3-point shooting this year.

"Honestly, before I saw Suggs play, I didn't think there was be a chance I’d see anyone that would look better than Jalen Green," Brown said. "He's an elite athlete that can create his own shot and score from all 3 levels. He can defend, he’s in tune on both ends, and he can make plays off the bounce in the pick and roll. He's really skilled and he's super athletic and if it was me, I would probably take him second overall.

"He's too good of an athlete and there's a pretty solid likelihood that he's the next up as the great shooting guard in the NBA like Kobe and Wade and those types of guys. I’m not saying he’s going to be those guys, but he's got the best chance of any guy we've seen recently because he's so super athletic and just has great natural feel and skill."

4. Evan Mobley

If the Raptors were to jump up the lottery and draft based on need, Mobley would be the obvious choice. Toronto has a desperate need for a big man and the 7 footer out of USC fits that description very well.

"Mobley showed a little more toughness as the season went on," Brown said. "His skill on the perimeter is pretty impressive. He can handle, he can actually pass, he can dribble, he can shoot. So he’s got pretty good skills even though he's got to get a little stronger. And he's got good touch in the paint. He protects the rim so well because of his length. He just, I think, lacks a motor and toughness and I'm not sure you can overcome those things, but based on his physical tools, there's no limit physically to how good he could be."

Drafting a centre always comes with some risks, especially with a player like Mobley who weighs 210 pounds, but if he can put it all together, he could be a star in the NBA for many years to come.

5. Jonathan Kuminga

Green's G League teammate Kuminga will certainly be one of the youngest players selected in the draft. He's a 6-foot-8 wing who averaged 15.8 points and 7.2 rebounds, but shot just 39% from the floor and 24.6% from behind the arc this season.

"Kuminga has a scoring gene, just a natural mindset to score from all three levels," Brown said. "He's got an unbelievable body, he's a better athlete than Cunningham and his potential is higher. He's got to work on his shot a little and he's definitely got to work on a lot of his ball skills. Like you could see he's a little raw at times, but he’s got the mentality and great physical tools that he could have been the number one pick in last year's draft."

Further Reading