Alex Fudge is one of the youngest sophomores in the 2023 NBA Draft, only being 20 for one month ahead of the Draft. Florida’s site lists Fudge’s wingspan as an unofficial 7 feet, making him a physical specimen with plus athleticism. As a former top 50 prospect, Fudge never was able to produce in his two stints in the SEC, both at LSU as a freshman and Florida as a sophomore. However, there is still lots of untapped potential for the young, versatile forward/wing. As a sophomore, Fudge averaged 5.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 0.4 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.8 BPG, and 1 TOPG in 19 minutes per game on splits of 40/23/59. Below is his full scouting report:
Name: Alex Fudge
Height/Weight: 6’8/189
Wingspan/ standing reach: 7’1/8’11
Hand size: 9.5
Position: SF
Pre-Draft team: Florida
Tools: Athleticism, defense
Pros:
- Great athlete on both ends of the floor
- Can guard multiple positions and be a lockdown on-ball defender
- Effective spot-up slasher
- Good rebounder
- Great recovery ability defensively
- Quick first step
- Good frame with long arms
Cons:
- Needs to prove consistency in shooting
- Can be reluctant to put his hands up and contest on plays he’s not 100% smothering
- Needs to be more disciplined defensively; unnecessarily takes himself out of plays too often
- Negative assist to turnover ratio
- Questionable feel for the game
- Often poor shot selection
- Needs to add strength
Summary:
Alex Fudge needs to continue developing, both in learning the game and in developing his skill, particularly as a shooter. Right now, Fudge is best to be viewed as a project, and should be judged from the long-term outlook as a process over results prospect.
Because of his lethal first step with long strides and explosion, Fudge’s best on-ball trait at the moment projects to be as a spot-up slasher. While his ability to play off-ball as a cutter and shooter as the jumper naturally develops will be his main sources of offense, his ability to beat off-balance defenders will allow him to get to the rim with ease. With an inefficient season overall, his finishing was not immune to criticism; Fudge will have to prove finishing consistency in the NBA to maximize this ability. One hope that will help him is that the spacing of college basketball is not favorable to shots at the rim, due to the bigs being able to sit in the paint without penalty.
Defensively, Fudge has all the tools of a lockdown defender: athleticism, length, and strong recovery ability. As long as his effort is there every play, it’s hard to imagine Fudge is anything short of a plus defender in the NBA. On top of the on-ball tools, he is able to generate turnovers and make up for late recoveries better than most of his peers off-ball. While there are still areas to iron out in his defense, the ceiling and floor for Fudge on that end of the floor remain high.
Similar to: Kenyon Martin Jr, KJ McDaniels, Terrance Ferguson
Projected draft range: Undrafted
Expected role: Lockdown defender with cutting ability and having teams draw up creative ways for him to score using his athleticism.
Unplayable if: Low production negatively translates, and his jump shooting & decision making limit his physical traits.
Exceeds expectations if: Jump shooting gets to a level where defenders have to pay attention to him, as well as his finishing numbers improve as he learns the game more.
Videos:
Shot Chart:
