Cameron Johnson and Ty Jerome hog most of the discussion when it comes to Phoenix Suns’ rookies, and for good reason. However, undrafted signee Jalen Lecque may force his way into the conversation before long.
Valley of the Suns profiled Cameron Johnson and his NCAA champion counterpart, Ty Jerome, earlier this summer. However, there hasn’t been much talk around the third Phoenix Suns’ rookie, Jalen Lecque.
The Suns signed Lecque to a four-year contract, two of which are guaranteed. This kind of deal for an undrafted free agent is practically unheard of, and mimics what you might see given to a late first-rounder or early second-rounder.
Unprecedented is sort of the norm for Lecque, especially when it comes to his path to the league.
Most NBA rookies come from college or overseas. Lecque came straight out of high school, something that, on the surface, might seem against the rules.
Like most rules, however, there is a loophole; and where there are loopholes, there are people to exploit them.
The en vogue trend for highly recruited high school players these days is to reclassify, essentially graduating a year earlier than what their normal tract would have projected. By graduating a year early, the player can enroll in college and thus be eligible for the draft after his freshman year.
This bypasses the one-and-done rule in the sense it makes them NBA eligible at the same time they would have been had they graduated high school when expected. This seems like a shady practice, and I have no idea how these kids take enough summer classes (presumably) to make up for their entire senior year.
This is relavent because Jalen Lecque did the complete opposite of this.
Lecque reclassified, but added a year of high school, something that I’ve never heard of an 18-year-old-kid volunteering to do in my life, especially a kid who could attend college for free.
Lecque transferred to Brewster Academy in New Hampshire after leaving Christ School in North Carolina the year prior, where he was eligible to graduate but never received a diploma, making him a fifth year high school senior.
He eventually committed to North Carolina State, which doesn’t exactly have the same reputation for campus scenery as Arizona State, but is nonetheless has more to offer in all aspects of life than any high school.
Rivals ranked him as the 40th best prospect in the 2019 class (he was ranked as high as 9th), but Lecque treated his one year at Brewster Academy as if it were his freshman year at college and snubbed NC State.
Enter the combine.
Lecque wowed teams with a 43 inch max vertical jump, the best amongst all combine participants.
Then he peaced out; essentially said, “That’s all ya get,” and did not participate in any other drills or scrimmages.
Lecque’s next most impressive jump was straight from high school to the NBA. His potential was enough for Phoenix Suns General Manager, James Jones, to take a chance on the 6’4″, 185″ youngster.
Some folks speculate Jones gave Lecque a guarantee that if he went undrafted, the Suns would sign him. Whether or not that promise was actually made, Jones did just that.
Lecque is a shoot-first point guard. Scratch that. He’s a dunk-first point guard with an aggressive, drive-to-the-basket mentality.
He plays this way partly because shooting is a weak spot in his game. On the 2018 AAU circuit he only made nine of the 57 threes he took. Similarly, he only hit one of his five attempts during what was an otherwise impressive Summer League.
Nicknamed Baby Westbrook for his athleticism and aggressive playing style, Lecque has also garnered comparisons to Damian Lillard and Kris Dunn when they were his age (19).
However, I see strong resemblances to last year’s NBA Slam Dunk Competition champion, Hamidou Diallo. Diallo was an athletic enough to win the dunk contest, but not skilled enough to keep a roster spot for the Oklahoma City Thunder much of the year, largely because of an inconsistent jump shot.
A closer-to-home comparison would be to former Phoenix Sun, Derrick Jones Jr., who could jump out of the gym, nearly won the 2017 NBA Dunk Contest, but spent most of his time with the Suns in the G-league.
Of course, those last two comparisons go out window if the Suns can develop him into a player in the ilk of grown man Russell Westbrook.
Lecque’s athleticism will make him instantly able to contribute to the NBA. Time will tell if his shooting and decision-making will catch up to his vertical.