Counterpoint: AD was just as 'frail' as Mobley is

I still have no idea why we're comparing Mobley to AD..... Just because Mobley has length doesn't mean the kid has the same basketball skills that AD had (not even close in my opinion). Would love to be proven wrong so I can accept it if we choose this guy over Green (or even Suggs)

 

Or like
Bosh
Pau
Dirk - minus the offensive prowess he at least competed defensively in the paint area wasn’t a complete liability.

Even tho Mobley might be pushed around punished and or abused in the paint area early on doesn’t mean he still won’t block shots protect the rim and be the defensive anchor we desperately need.

Not to mention his defensive awareness and defensive IQ is off the charts for a kid this age.

That’s rare.

 

He also was 7'6" and every single pro basketball player 7'4" and above has seen limited minutes by their early 30s and careers cut short. It was an inevitability for Yao.

While I'm not convinced that Mobley is the guy I want, I'm less concerned about those kinds of injuries for him than I would be if he was a few inches taller. There was a doctor here in Houston who wrote a great article about how people that are "super tall" have almost zero chance of not having those sorts of issues...super tall being around 7'3" or above.

 

KG was always skinny, from day 1 to the final day.

It's not the weight, it is the mentality that will make or break Mobley.

 

Giannis and Dwight Howard were really skinny teenagers but they have wide shoulders, it means they can add weight and muscle.

 

Similar with Hakeem, although Hakeems natural upper body was more impressive, while KDs legs were more impressive, the thing with both is they had extremely low body fat and ripped. Mobley should let his body naturally age while doing high rep/low weighth workouts every year, and maybe only try and add a bit of mass to his legs and upper and lower back/core

 

Most Rockets Fans Nervous about keeping the Pick

Now Most Rockets Fans are Nervous about Evan Mobley.

Personally I don't think the Rockets should select Evan Mobley.

Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. as the Backcourt combo, will Dominate.

 

Hakeem was just a better natural physical specimen despite looking really skinny at certain angles, but any in game, in action photos reveals the skinny strong build.
No reason Mobley can't eventually look like this if he really wanted to. NBA players, even a lot of suepr jacked ones actually look long and lean in real life. Even LeBron who is apparently as big as Malone(not true) looks skinny lean in real life.


Although my pick is Green, i should remind everyone that we were worried about Hakeem facing big centers. We didn't want to go against Rik Smis, but overall, most centers were bigger than Hakeem. Mobley has modern traits that can take advantage of bigger guys. What he really needs to learn is Hakeem and KGs ability to knock balls loose, as both were amazing at steals and not just blocks.

 

And here i am bringing up Hakeem and KG also, but Mobley aint Jared Jeffries either......or..is he?

 

There seems to be a lot of confusion on Mobley.

He is going to put on some weight, you can tell by looking at his body and the fact that his brother has put on about 10-15 LBS the last year or two. He is never going to be a bruiser, he just doesn't have that type of body. However that doesn't mean that he cannot be a very good defensive player. He just will likely always be better matched up against players that are not massive like Jokic or even an Embiid. Then again, Mobley is more agile that either of those players and has a mismatch on the other side of the floor.

There are a few questions about Mobley. He does have a high center of gravity, and that will impact him in the post both offensively and defensively. He will have to learn how to avoid getting banged off balance. He struggles with that right now. He also will need to get stronger to become a very good rebounder. I think he is fine as a rebounder now, but with his length, his agility and soft hands, he is capable of being really good.

Another question about Mobley is there is some debate about how driven he is to be great. His coaches all vouch for him but questions about his drive and toughness persist. I watched him a lot last year and I saw a player that could be a killer when confident but at times wasn't able to carry his team offensively. Defensively he was a very good team defender.

The question is whether he can be an anchor at the 5, or if he is more of a quasi 4/5.

He does have a lot of positives. His lateral movement is elite for the 4/5, not just elite but possibly the best in the league for that position. He can easily get out on guards, he can play drop at a very high level. He has excellent instincts defensively, he knows when to come over, when to stay back. He just "gets it" naturally. He has a very long wingspan at 7'5" and he is strong athletically, capable of covering up a lot of mistakes from the backcourt.

Offensively he is great in transition, a very good passer and can handle the ball better than most 4/5's.

Most scouts think he will become a good shooter from the perimeter but right now it isn't there.

He is an intriguing prospect and his position shouldn't be held against him. If nothing else, he has the chance of defensively allowing the Rockets to have a poor defensive scoring guard.

Also, getting skilled and talented and multi dimensional post players is very difficult. The Rockets shouldn't draft him because of his position, but if he is the best player on the board, then the Rockets should take him.

 

Not to mentioned he already excelled on the G-League Ignite, playing against near-NBA-level players.

 

AD is still frail and injury prone, so not sure what OP's point is. Plus, AD is more of a complimentary piece. He's put up great stats on bad teams. He needs a LeBron to take pressure off of him which the Rockets don't have.

 

I haven't watched any of these players. From your description, he sounds sort of like Chris Bosh. Is that an apt comparison?

 

Not sure if you have answered this already @Nook

But who is your pick at 2??

 

Mo Bamba did exactly the same things like Evan Mobley.

Dribbling, Shooting 3 Pointers, Blocking Shots. Mo Bamba literally sat on the bench for 3 seasons. Until Nikola Vucevic got traded. No really struggled against strong and quicker Centers.

 

My main concern with drafting Mobley is AD.. and Bosh,Garnett,Gasol,Towns. All of those guys were/are immensely talented offensively, with varying degrees of defensive excellence(not Towns). None of them came particularly close to winning a chip as the alpha because they couldn't dominate a game with the ball in their hands. Invariably they all couldn't win with them cats and went elsewhere (Towns will too before long)

I'm OK taking him if you think he's gonna be superstar, but building around him is likely a losing proposition until we get an actual alpha playmaker.

 

Giannis looked like a twig too when he was first draft, look at him now.

The only thing I'm worried with Mobley is how passive he is. It's in his personality.

He's definitely closer to Kawhi in terms of vocalness than let's say KG. Idk if that's a good thing for a big man when they need to be constantly communicating on defense.

 

I see people talking like Mobley will be our last draft pick for the next 10 years and he will be 'the franchise' player. I don't see him necessarily as the "franchise", I see him as part of the core of young talent we are building. We have a lot of picks in the coming years and like I said, you can ALWAYS find a G/F that can score. Those are plentiful in today's game. Being able to draft a modern C with Mobley's skill set is rare.

 

Players who can score and create for teammates when the entire defense is trying to stop them sure as hell aren't easy to come by.

There's less than 10 in the league right now. We're not talking about Levine or Kemba Walker.

 

I'm not very concerned about Mobley's weight. There are only a handful of bruisers left in the league. And there have been plenty of thin all-star bigs that had huge impacts on the defensive end. Mobley might be best played at the 4 anyway.