Would you really rather have the best left tackle over the best quarterback? becase the post you were responding to didn’t say you don’t need good/great bigs. It was asking why the person voted “the best” in the finals was a guard/wing 9 of the last 10 years. it’s a dumb argument anyway… since you need both… but I don’t think there are very many GMs or analysts or coaches today, that all else being equal, both players being 10/10 or 9/9 or whatever, that would choose the big first, if starting a team from scratch.
Well, in NFL terms, many teams do build an Oline first before drafting a QB. The Texans, as we know, keep trying to get the QB first and that has only ended in disaster each time...Between Carr, Schaub, and Watson the lack of oline protection has been pretty bad. But in the NBA, we know this isn't true because the GM poll for the past two years asked this very question, and their answer was Giannis and I'm not saying that bigs are more valuable...just that they can be just as valuable, the positions are equal. Of course if Hakeem was in this draft you take him, you build around him, you don't blink, right? As for the question about the past 9 years, NBA sucks for parity, so in those last 9 years 4 guys have won it. Lebron, Kawhi, Durant, multiple times and Iggy in there too...if anything the meta seems to be a really good SF that can defend seems to be the best you can do...which is probably why 6'8 Cade is (and should go) #1.
a guard is different from a wing/forward right? A guard is perimeter player 6'5 and below. Usually a forward is somebody 6'6-6'10. If everything is equal the hierarchy is: 1. Forward 2. Big 3. Guards The reason is forwards can do anything. Magic Johnson is a forward but plays pg and also played center. If you can create clones you'd clone Lebron and have 5 Lebrons on the court at the same time. Look at the top players in the NBA since MJ they have almost always been forwards. Forwards are the heart of positionless basketball thats why Giddey is a pg while Usman Garuba is a center. The next tier are bigs due to how rare they are. PF/Cs are just harder to find esp those mobile enough in the NBA. The last tier are the guards, pgs and sgs. There's just so many of them. Just look in this draft how many players are 6'1-6'5?
Injuries are injuries doesn't matter if it happens vs. a student or a grown ass man. And usuage matters too. Is this the 1st year in history of NBA that the NCAA no longer supplies the most draft prospects? And if so, do we discard or discredit every college player because you need to have an excuse for your favorite prospect?
Coming around on Mobley more and more. Not because I’m getting more input, I’ve watched enough of Mobley. But more in my mind. I can see the upside - however not a fan of Mobley‘s game offensively. I still think Green will be the better pick for us, but we can’t really go wrong here.
Currently Evan Mobley is my favorite available prospect so not sure how to answer your last question. And again, being a lean 215 in college at 30 minutes a night and banging against guys who arent professional bodies vs a bulked 250 on a 7' frame banging against Nikola Jokic for 40 minutes are two very different things. We all know what happened to Yao once he put on weight, his feet couldn't handle it.
If he's going to add weight properly, he needs to do it like Giannis. Mobley is more skilled than Giannis IMO.
I dont think Mobley is going to straight line drive/out athlete everyone like Giannis. BUT ... I think Mobley can penetrate often and create on the interior using spins and shooting over folk to create offense for himself when needed. Mix that with being average as a roll man, alley oop/vertical threat/face up mid range/35% 3pt percentage and he should score 20 easily and efficiently. I think Mobley is being underrated offensively.
For those who think they are disparaging Mobley by comparing him to Ralph Sampson. Love the Dream commentary on Sampson.
I mean it’s a pretty simple question. If he choice is between Tom Brady in his prime or say Jonathan Ogden or any of the greatest left tackles ever I start a franchise what do you choose? honestly… I don’t even know who the Patriots left tackles were. which doesn’t mean the oline isn’t incredibly important. These are team sports. Want to win a ring. Can’t have many flaws anywhere. Just means some positions are more important.
to me, in the modern NBA, I create 2 categories. outside in players. And Inside out players. I guess you can have outside only and inside only players, too… but if those guys aren’t great 3 point shooters (outside only) or great defenders (inside only) they are not going to play. outside in players are more valuable than inside out players. if CP3/Booker win this year it will be led by outside in players, in this case guards. CP/Harden won 60 games as guard. They don’t win a ring because they ran up against a buzzsaw team that was led by outside in players and principally by a guard/guard-forward combo. Lebrons Cavs and Heat teams were both outside in led teams with the 2 best players as forward/guards. Lebrons Lakers we’re forward/forward outside in players. It’s not universal but, especially in today’s nba seems to be the way. absolutely you still need an above average if not way above average big. Again… winning an nba ring is super hard. but I chose outside in over inside out. relative to This draft… we’ll for one that’s why I beg the Pistons to be dumb and let Cade slip. After that I view Green as both the better prospect and the outside in prospect. Some have tried to pretend Mobley is an outside in player but I just don’t see it yet. Maybe he gets there.
But I think the main point is...if you have Tom Brady and a bad oline then it won't matter at all. Just as the Texans had one of the best QBs in the NFL in Watson and it simply didn't matter. Throwing him into a bad situation had him wanting out and maybe he would have been traded if not for his own drama. As I mentioned, I'm not worried about who is the best player on the team, I'm worried about having the best team. And also, yes, basketball is different. Because Hakeem goes #1 in every single draft unless maybe Lebron is in that draft or something and he still could go #1. Football the positions are not equal, everyone has a different role technically so that does mean some positions can have more of an impact. A kicker can only do so much, for instance...but basketball all the positions can do the same thing, so they can all have the same impact. That's how a guy like Russ can lead a team in rebounds despite his position, but you'd never see a WR lead the team in rushing yards. I don't think SG is more important either, as someone pointed out, not many guys have lead their teams to championships at that position. We're talking Kobe, Jordan, Wade, who else? I don't think SG is equivalent to QB or even guard is, if you have a dominant player you have a dominant player and in basketball that's the most important thing is how many dominant players you can put on one team...then you hope they can make it work through chemistry. At the end of the day, Mobley's position doesn't stop him from being an MVP like being a blindside tackle does in the NFL, so he can have just as much impact (if he's good enough) as any other position.
He's also better defensively. Giannis gets a lot of love from media because he has a chase down block and dunk every once in a while but the guy really is one of the worst "superstars" of the past decade. He doesn't defend well in space and relies on his athleticism to recover if he gets blown by, which is often. He usually doesn't recover anyway. The only time he gets a defensive highlight is when someone was trying to get a layup and forgot about him. Mobley is especially impressive defensively in space. His hip movement is pristine and he has a knack for making the right decision. That's my biggest take away. This is going to be a weird comparison, but I feel like he could be a Tim Duncan/Chris Bosh hybrid. I like that Mobley has a tendency to make the *smart* play. Duncan had that. Wasn't the flashiest player and didn't play with with "edge" like Kevin Garnett or Iverson. But he was miles better than them as a player. That's why I'm not really on Gang Green as much anymore. I don't like his one track mind. If he showed his willingness as a playmaker then I'd probably have them neck and neck. But Mobley is more of a "make team better" guy and Green is more a "end up on Sportscenter" guy.
You cant just categorize them as outside players and inside players cuz some inside players are better than outside players. Giannis for example is better than Cam Johnson. Not only that some outside players are better than other outside players KD and Cp3 are both outside players and make the same salary but KD is better than Cp3. Finally some players are both outside snd inside aka the forwards. Thats why they the top of the foodchain. The more I look into this draft the more I see gems being available in 23-24 range. JT Thor, Chris Johnson, Kai Jones, Quentin Grimes, Josh Primo, Roko P etc. There is no wrong pick at 2 I feel like as long as we draft somebody at a diff position at 23 or 24. I'd even be ok trading down to 6 and 8 and getting say Barnes and Moody or w/e. Lots of players in this draft have high ceilings.
i don’t care if we draft an MVP as long as it’s a future champion. so best player to me. If I had them exactly tied (I don’t) then I’d lean outside in player - that could be KPJ already but we’re not sure. If I had Mobley ahead in any way I’d draft him. my point is simply on the all else being equal front … in modern NBA outside in player is slightly more valuable.
I'm surprised there are still people assuming that players can simply just "shoot better" once they enter the NBA, like it's a given. Not even Anthony Davis has a reliable 3 point shot, despite being described as having a very good jumpshot coming out of college with immense offensive potential.
