Cape Cade

[thecoolestjedi]

The sweat drenches the Phoenix Suns practice shirt as rookie, Cade Cunningham puts up some shots in the gym after another losing skid hits the Phoenix Suns. The rookie was selected 2nd overall in the 2031 CSL draft by the Phoenix Suns and the season so far has proven that pick to be a bit of a reach. A lot has been made of the Point Guard and many in the franchise have staked their future and job on Cade being a revelation for the franchise, so this current season has been a disappointment for the franchise. Cade and his trainer have been working on the Point Guard's shooting as he has disappointed so far for the Suns in the season.

Cade is shooting 33% from the field, 71% from the free throw line and 30% from the three point line. To call this a disappointment would be a understatement for the franchise. While picked it was likely that Cade would struggle with his shot, many point to his lack of production on the rebounding and assist front as he averages 4 of each for both. Cade has acknowledged this disappointment in post game interviews and media appearances' as he shows a maturity unlike those of his age. "It hurts to see people write off the players and the team as being losers. I don't know a group that works as hard as us and I take the blame for these losses; I haven't produced and I haven't helped my team. We sit at a crossroads in terms of our goal and the team has taken ugly losses."

When reached for comment; the team and head coach provided some insight into their approach and what they feel. "Cade was selected to lead the team to the future and the road the team is on is not one that is easy, we fully acknowledge the fact that Cade is a work in progress and so is the team." The Suns front office is certainly on the road to a rebuild and knows success will not happen overnight, but head coach Elton Brand landed a different message. "Cade understands his role as a starter comes with the expectation that rookie or not he will contribute to a winning culture and attitude. That so far hasn't been realized for a number of reasons, so that has come under review in terms of who gives us the best bet at winning."

[Ramcus]

Cunningham is most likely out of his depth for his rookie season, being asked to burden the future of the entire franchise. Cunningham came into the season with some reasonable concerns, primarily his rawness coming out of the draft, so it's well within expectations for him to be struggling. That being said, you still have time to build a team around him. His level of well-roundedness in a point guard doesn't come around all too often, especially a player who's as capable offensively as him. Take your time with your rebuild. Don't be afraid to make ballsy trades to acquire more talent.

[KW]

yeah it definitely looks like Cade is a bit more of a long-term project, as he simply doesn't have the ratings to play PG yet, and his shooting ratings aren't there yet either, it's made for a pretty bad combo. There's a lot to like for the future, but really nothing in the present...

The rest of your team may be better served with Arci running PG and Cade as a 2 for the next season or two, but I'm not sure. Might as well funnel everything through Snail Magic at this point, really anything to lower the burden on the rookie.

[thecoolestjedi]

Cunningham is most likely out of his depth for his rookie season, being asked to burden the future of the entire franchise. Cunningham came into the season with some reasonable concerns, primarily his rawness coming out of the draft, so it's well within expectations for him to be struggling. That being said, you still have time to build a team around him. His level of well-roundedness in a point guard doesn't come around all too often, especially a player who's as capable offensively as him. Take your time with your rebuild. Don't be afraid to make ballsy trades to acquire more talent.

Unfortunately seems like it. Put a lot on Cade as I love him irl as a player and in game when I scouted; loved his toolset, think he will be better served off the bench then running into a brick wall 30 mpg in the top tier completion on the CSL. Thankfully as you said; I got plenty of time to build a team around him so happy to handpick guys with toolsets to serve Cade

[thecoolestjedi]

yeah it definitely looks like Cade is a bit more of a long-term project, as he simply doesn't have the ratings to play PG yet, and his shooting ratings aren't there yet either, it's made for a pretty bad combo. There's a lot to like for the future, but really nothing in the present...

The rest of your team may be better served with Arci running PG and Cade as a 2 for the next season or two, but I'm not sure. Might as well funnel everything through Snail Magic at this point, really anything to lower the burden on the rookie.

The SG plan looks intriguing. I agree Ryan at the 1 is better for the team as of now until Cade gets better, disappointed his handling hasn’t improved as much as I’d like. I think simply I’ll have him come off the bench for the rest of the year for his own sake.


And I’m trying to get Snail there, we got him what; too 10 in points?! So maybe that’s gets him all star nods lol

[bt]

Yeah, he's got some great future talent but he just needs time to develop those skills and will struggle a bit until he gets there. A bit similar to Mays for us in that regard, the skills and shot just aren't there yet so it's just a waiting game until they are. Unfortunately without your pick, it's tough to be completely comfortable with him playing like this so becomes a juggling act as to what you do.

[Flaming Homer]

Be patient. Building around rookies is a sometimes frustrating business. But most of them are not ready in their first 2 seasons. They work better for me if I put them in better positions to succeed like coming of the bench or playing beside better player, so they don't have to carry the load yet.

Cade will get better, hopefully reaching his potentials. But Kyrus has a good point, I would start Arci over him in his first season. Just to give him some easier minutes.

He is also only the first piece of the puzzle, just keep adding pieces you like and think will fit.

[rh0xxy]

It's a loss season already so it could be the best time to try some strats that would fit next to your keepers. A lot to learn in this engine and don't take the pressure of winning get into you. Have fun!

[OneNole]

Cade is just really raw, probably will take him 2+ seasons to get to where he needs to be at an efficiency stand point. The biggest thing to do now is just test different strats. Look at what offensive sets the other higher level teams are running and try those. Then play around with different paces and settings, but make a change every 10 games or so. Too many members in this league do one strategy, get a bad result and think its solely the strats fault without realizing you could sim one game 10 different times and get many different results. You need a sample size to determine what works and doesn't work.

[Marcos_Beck]

I understand the frustration around Cade, there were better and more prepared options on the board when he was picked but there’s nothing to be done about that, only look forward.
He needs major development but has potentials to be a solid triple double threat.

It all depends on your player building and expectations. Don’t expect Cade to score 25 a game easily because he’s not that efficient to have super high volume. It’s like Doom for us, either he’s a volume shooter and scores around 18-20 a game with efficiency or he’s a driver who could score a bit more but not space the floor and be less efficient overall. I really can’t have Doom shooting high volume both from deep and from inside and scoring 25 and being efficient. That’s not him really.

Set your goals for Cade and instruct him accordingly. He’ll take a while but should be good