I am leaning to Green over Cade. Jalen Green is very special. He has been ranked number 1 since before he started high school and hasn't had any big fall off or failure to meet expectations. I think both may be better future stars than Lamelo Ball and Ja Morant. The difference for me is the level of competition. I think guys who have experience and success playing vs pros at a high level have a great advantage. Cade was always the best player on the court in college and has great solid fundamental play, but Jalen Green was making a name for himself 3 yrs ago at 16 yrs old with highlights and a good showing while guarding Kevin Durant and Devin Booker! Team USA under 17 gold medal and MVP, and best player on a pro Gleague team I think is more impressive. I think Green has the potential to lead the league in scoring and the type of talent to draw in other top talents. It is kind of like comparing Jordan and Magic Johnson or KG and Tim Duncan to me. I won't be mad with either guy because it is hard to find flaws in either of their games. Both seem extra prepared for such young guys. My biggest concern with Cade is the Rockets would probably play him out of position and waste some of his best traits. I would rather the Rockets draft Evan Mobley than to try to make Cade into a forward.
I'd take him #1, but I do wish he was able to get to the rim better than that. In that 2:20 of isolation highlights, he only had 2 shots at the rim. I have seen Cade compared to Luka a lot, but Luka was always able to get to the rim. Of course, I realize that watching Harden for years has spoiled me and that no one in this draft will be him, but, I can still wish.
The most tantalizing part of that video is the fact that it is his vision and passing that it considered his top trait.
It’s harder to get to the rim with the poor spacing in college. And overseas Luka was statistically a much worse ISO scorer than Cade in the NCAA.
much better spacing in the NBA should help him have an easier time getting to the rim these are examples of Doncic’s scouting report coming into the NBA “Doncic lacks explosiveness for a guard or wing. He isn't a blow-by driver, which forces him to rely on lower-percentage shots away from the basket in isolation situations. It also causes him to over-dribble while teammates stand around.” “He can be considered a marginally average athlete by NBA standards … Not overly long… His first step is slow even for European standards … Not a very good leaper off one foot, his good jumps come off two feet … Must continue working on his body … He lost some flexibility while he was bulking up … Can be really emotional at times and lose concentration for a few plays… He can depend too much on his instinct at times … If he doesn’t have momentum it’s difficult for him to finish plays at the rim… He must improve in changing speeds and pace … His ball handling still needs some polishing, especially with his left hand … Has problems against aggressive ball pressure from smaller, faster opponents … The lack of explosiveness makes it really difficult for him to create his own shoot against great athletes with good wingspan … Isn’t always able to punish switches when he has a versatile Big against him, especially if there are no shooters around him … He has the tendency to over-dribble, trying to find his way around his defender, icing-out teammates momentarily … It’s a questionmark whether he will be able to create consistently at the next level on ISO situations … Finds it difficult to finish in traffic and against elite length … Finishing against contact might be an issue at the next level” “On the offensive end, he sometimes struggles to drive past good defenders. In the EuroLeague title game vs. defending champions Fenerbahce Istanbul, Doncic lost his footing when pressured by Nikola Kalinic.” on his Draftexpress scouting video, Luka’s 2 biggest weaknesses were creating vs athletes and finishing in traffic
Even if Rockets get Cade or Green, the Rockets most glaring issue is perimeter defense. Rockets are giving up an inordinate number of 3's each game. There is a reason why all these no names have had career shooting nights against us all season. The 2 low FRP and FA must address this issue. Rockets need ELITE perimeter defenders, if switchable 1-5 even better.
Well I'm definitely not going to act like I know better than Draft Express / Givony, because he's maybe the best at what he does. So, if that's what he said at the time, then I take his word for it. I could have sworn I saw some highlights of Doncic that showed him maneuvering around guys and finishing at the rim, but maybe not. It was a while ago.
How do you pass up on the next Kobe level player on both ends of the court? I started HOT on the #fadeforcade wave - I absolutely love him as a player and future pro, but Im with you in #1 level of competition, and #2 the fit and play style with the current nucleus of young players on the roster moving forward. KPJ SHOULD be the future PG for this team and while I do agree having multiple playmakers is a good thing this team really needs a guy who will go get you some points. Cade is another guy similar to KPJ in that he wants to distribute and thrives with the ball in his hands 24/7 especially with the ISO metrics being discussed. While he may be a great ISO guy in college, I wonder how much that will translate at the next level when his athleticism is not anywhere near to what Jalen Green is. Cade is the smartest and most pro ready player, but I still think Jalen Green has a higher ceiling. If Cade is the guy then you start trying to move on from KPJ or relegate him to an off ball guard and Im not ready to do that.
A 6'8" point guard who can score, shoot, and potentially be able to guard multiple positions....... That's your number one pick.
Green, Cade, & Mobley can all score shoot and guard multiple positions...and Mobley is 7'0 with guard skills and range too. Jalen Green does things that only the most elite NBA athletes can do. Cade is like a suped up version of Shane Battier. I think he is gonna be great, but probably will take longer for his game to show. Jalen will be an instant star, he has a different energy with his competitiveness and explosiveness.
I would love to have lockdown defender Davion Mitchell (perhaps moving up in the draft for our 2 late first rounders) and select Evan Mobley with our top 4 pick = Defense fixed. https://www.nbadraft.net/players/davion-mitchell/
I wouldn’t put too much weight on the rankings, as long as their elite but hs rankings change a lot, guys like Avery Bradley Harry Giles, josh Jackson, oakafor, Noel, shabaz Mohammad, Harrison Barnes so on were al perennial number ones let alone guys who were chosen mr basketball, I remember chase budinger was it while guys like paul George and Leonard were playing. So not to disregard the rankings, but once they are at that elite standard, ranked, and have the tools than its a little more open ended. That said, I agree with you’re take about green and just the g league concept as a whole. In college they even have ridiculous limits on time with coaches in the ncaa of keeping them amateur as students, but they cant even attend over half their classes or choose their own classes often because they are flying around and their are millions on the line, that only apparently the ‘amateur’ coaches can get paid. Nonetheless the style of play is different and the quality of play is worse. In gleague you are facing professionals everyday in a pace more like the league playing against talent that were often the stars of the college team or close to being professional and you have nba level coaching. It’s much better for us to evaluate. And that green has had success is very promising. He’s going to get some wisdom from Brian Shaw who played with kobe and a host of others, coached at the nba level and he is definitely a force we have to get an eye on. That saidI still think Cade is the most unique prospect. He can ply 1-3 and hopefully we don’t minimize his gifts, but he’s comfortable getting his shot off in traffic and creating in all sorts of scenarios. Being his size with his playmaking vision and also a shot makes him exciting despite his slow foot work. Sometimes people focus on what they cant’ do and don’t look at what he does very very well. At this point, rockets aren’t good enough to draft based on neeed so I’m going with Cade for no 1 and we just have to get the best talent that we can. If we do end up at 2-4 and get green, possibly Mobley, I’d still be extremely excited.
I just wish, who ever we pick, there will be alot of "yep, this is our future star" posts after first game.
Like I said, if we have a good competitive team built on a foundation of role players without a star I'm comfortable that if/when one becomes available we would be strongly considered. Houston as a city does is not a negative for the majority of players. We've seen many examples of competitive "overachieving" teams without stars manage to attract big name players with cap space or trade-able assets. In recent years... Jimmy Butler added to the scrappy Miami Heat PG/Kawaii agreeing to go to the Clippers with no established star Kyrie and KD going to Brooklyn with no established star In each of those scenarios there was no "star" but the competitive showing by the role players and coaching staff made a star comfortable to make the switch. New York hasn't been on ANY desirable free agents list for years, but now that they are competitive I bet we start hearing all kind of rumors about who might be heading there. If we were Indiana, Utah, Milwaukee, etc. I could see how absolutely nailing the draft would be the only way to truly attract upper-echelon talent. Fortunately we're a decent sized market that can attract players as long as we're competitive and keep our cap clean.
I think draft u worry about BPA not addressing needs. Free agency is where we can address needs. If we end up with Suggs then yes that helps a lot with the perimeter defense issue. Have to see where we are and grabbing as much talent as possible is the goal in the draft imo. It’s the reason you saw Sam Bowie over Jordan. Need vs BPA. Imo historically in drafts you should always do BPA.
Absolutely. Even philly kept drafting bigs and then just stuck with the best one in Embid. Also talent>fit. When Lebron and Wade teamed up, a lot of people questioned the fit. Same with Harden and cp3. For a team like the Rockets who are talent deficient they especially can’t afford to pass over better players for players they think fit better with current players who may or may not even be here long term.
