Suggs is moving up, no doubt about it. Cade is still number 1 for me. Kuminga probably is down to number 5. The top 5 players are clearly distinguishing themselves from the rest of the pack.
Mobley is a 4 like AD, who only plays 5 when he wants to win NBA titles. Anyway enjoy 1996. A good year!
Exactly. I PERSONALLY like Suggs more but people put too much stock in the, “college winner”, “intangibles”, etc guy. Cade is the #1 guard period. He was on a worst team and had NBA level games where he carried them
I’m on the Suggs train now - dudes a gamer and if he wins the tourney even better - we could use a winner around these parts. Mobley > Cade > Suggs (infuse some hope back into this franchise)
Yeah, I don't really have a solid preference yet among the top 4 (and I still know nothing about Kuminga). At this point they all look damn good, and all of them have a question mark or 2 as well. Rockets not screwing up getting a top-4 pick this year is huge for the future. eta: looking forward to more stuff from these guys (hat tip to @Mr Woods), I liked their breakdowns of Green and Cade a lot. What they pointed out with Cade was what I saw from him all year (watched a ton of BigXII hoops, because it was a fun conference and the Rockets pissed me off). https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_7Yhfmt1Ue21bBxp7PIGXQ
I don't follow college ball much these days. So I'm not gonna pretend I know these players. Here are some general observations: 1. When you are drafting from the top 4, you want to get someone who is projected to be a franchise level player, not just a very good NBA player. So you ask yourself, if he develops into full potential, can I build a championship team around him? 2. IQ and work ethics are extremely important for a player to get to his ceiling. The NBA are littered with high-ceiling talents who end up to be mediocre players because they are either too dumb and/or too unmotivated to improve their games once they get to the pro level. And intelligence and hard work are seldom changed in a guy. 3. Players who are on great college teams that go deep into the NCAA tournament tend to be overrated because of the great things they do in March Madness. These images stick in people's minds and they think they will do the same in the pro. But more often than not they don't. 4. Shooting is extremely important in today's NBA. You have to be at least an above average shooter to be able to lead a team to championship. (Remember we are not looking for a very good player. We are looking for a franchise guy who you can build a championship team around.)
5. Shooting is the easiest skill for players to improve upon, as long as their form isn't completely broke. As proven by countless examples through history.
I think MOST players improve their shooting? And that shooting is the easiest to improve? This is widely accepted knowledge no? I'm sure there are some outliers to every rule. I don't see anyone calling Suggs shot broken, or even Mobley for that matter and he's shooting 30% from 3.
Did not say we were. What you and I do not know is what Stone thinks. I am saying IF they are trying to do this then Suggs would be a great option. To validate your point, I do agree it is highly unlikely due to the contract however now way Wall walks away from that 5th year!
Wall should be no factor in who we draft, if Suggs is best available we take him. We need to help at literally every position.
I agree that shooting can be improved and many players do improve. But I wouldn't say that those who don't improve are outliers. There are plenty of players who never really improve their shooting. The most notables are of course our beloved Westbrook. And just on top of my head: Rubio, MCW, Simmons, more recently Morant and Fultz. And I am just counting the guards. I'd give the big men a pass for their lack of shooting skill. But nowadays, even bigs need to be able to shoot to make a living in the NBA. If you are a below average shooter, you'd better be able to do a few other things really good. And if you are supposed to be a franchise player and can't shoot, you'd better be on elite level in everything else.
As a matter of fact I would draft Day'Ron Sharpe and Alperen Sengun over Evan Mobley. Both are younger and have more skill and weight than Mobley. They could hold their own in the paint.
Cade Cunningham, or Jalen Suggs. Jalen Green sounds nice too, but the Rockets already have Kevin Porter jr. They don't need that many shooting guards on their roster. Cade Cunningham can play small forward too, or point guard. Jalen Suggs is a pure point guard who can replace John Wall if the Rockets draft Jalen Suggs. I'll be happy with either Cade, or Jalen Suggs if the Rockets get a chance to get one of them.
