I know a lot of y'all have been fixated on Green/Mobley due to the consensus that Cade is going 1, so some of you are saying you're 'not as high on' or 'don't see it'. Cade is Luka/Tatum-esque on offense and Ben Simmons light on defense. He is Khris Middleton at absolute WORST. There is a reason he's the consensus top prospect. I wouldn't trade him. Having said that, I think I'm in the minority here. I think Cade, Jalen, and Evan are all going to be All-Star Players within 3-4 years. I don't get the whole tear down the prospect you don't like to promote the one you do like, they're all going to be very, very good.
I think Cade and Mobley likely will be all star quality, probably Jalen Suggs too, but imo Jalen Green has a very high chance of being an outright bust. I don't say that to promote anyone else, it's just my opinion of the one player.
I think SGA follows Donovan to Chicago in hopes to become the second coming. To be honest, I hope he pulls it off.
If we take a step back and look at the bigger picture it's easy to see why Presti could/would give up SGA for Cade: marketability. Sure it goes without saying for a guy destined to go #1 but Cade is from Arlington and went to school at Ok St, that's like drafting a homegrown talent #1 for Presti. You get a guy with roots/ties to your city and he's projected to be an All-Star? You have to swing for the fences because he could legitimately be your franchise cornerstone for the next decade, at least. Think of it this way: if this draft had a player coming out of UH that was projected to go in the top 3, how much fanfare and interest would the city have in drafting said player at #2?
I'm not going to lie and pretend I see something in the kid that I don't just to be on the safe side. If I'm wrong about him, I'm wrong. It wouldn't be the first time, but I'm right more often than I'm wrong. If we're stuck with him, I'll hope to be wrong just like I hoped to be wrong about Westbrook.
We have to feel for them though--this is the first time in a very long time where they have a player/asset that is in this high of a demand so their perception vs reality diagram is all out of whack.
I think the issue is we aren't used to having a high draft pick, so we are overanalyzing everything. They all have some bust potential, but I think they all hit over they all bust. But I truly think we just aren't used to this whole having a top 5 pick thing.
In my lurking of Pistons bball media, they (the fans and some of the beat writers) already settled on Cade. So the fact that news cycle is still churning, is at the point of annoyance to them. Their decision was much easier. That's my read anyways. They're kind of offended that these other teams are still knocking on their doors.
I love what Stone has been doing. Full on shock and awe. So much speculation that nobody knows what is what.
Wiggins has some of the highest levels of raw talent to enter the NBA, he just never put anything together. I think the top 3 plus guys like Suggs, Barnes, Wagner, the Turkish kid, Kuminga will all have more impactful careers than Wiggins
SGA, while a different type of player, basically provides a realistic projection for Jalen Green in terms of production. To get him and the 6th pick would be a coup in my opinion. Really my only hesitation is that SGA likely pushes the Rockets pick closer to 10 next season. But that is why we keep the Commander around...
It's super rare for none of the "consensus" to picks to bust, I think it's more likely than not that one or more of the highly touted prospects in this class will seriously underperform or outright bust. My money would be on Green and Kuminga if I had to pick the disappointments who were highly hyped.
