So is Mobley. He doesn't have the wide frame to put on weight like AD or Bosh so he'll always be a tweener. Mobley is just a bigger Andrei Kirilenko. Not sure if I value that type of production at #2.
I think a lot of people that want Mobley are fairly low on Christian Wood. I am the opposite. He is 25 years old, yet I see so many people acting like he is 35. He has the tools to be a truly elite offensive force, and he has shown flashes on the defensive end as well. We need more creative, penetrating guards that will make use of him, unlike John Wall who ices him out. I'd murder to have a Silas offense with KPJ, Herro, Jalen running all kinds of pick and rolls and off-ball weirdness, leaving Wood open to capitalize. Also, KJ Martin is going to be an absolute stud forward in the very near future. TLDR: Rockets will be better than people think. I vehemently disagree with Clutch & Bima concerning our timeline to win.
He'll never be a Jokic style 280+ lb land mass, but he could easily put on 20 or 30 pounds and be a very good size for a modern center. He wouldn't want to put on too much more than that in order to keep his quickness and his versatility.
I'm high on Mobley and I'm not low on Christian Wood, I just look at Mobley as a guy who could help Wood with the heavy lifting in the front court. I don't think Wood can be the only player on the roster above 6'6....which is what he is right now.
Will he be more AD or Minute Bol? Being that tall and skinny makes you center gravity that much more of a hurdle to get over. He's fluid like a gazelle but also is physically weak like gazelle. He's certainly the biggest project out of the top 4.
When you throw out completely asinine comparisons like Minute Bol it doesn't further the conversation. Mobley has literally nothing in common with Minute Bol. At all. Mobley is no more skinny than Clint Capela or Giannis were when they came into the league. Also I disagree that Mobley is the biggest project out of the 4, Green has a LOT more he needs to learn how to do than Mobley does. That's considerably more difficult than just putting on size. IMO Green is by far the biggest project out of the bunch.
Cade will only work out for Detroit, right? That would be awful if Detroit decides on Green and then the Rockets decide on Mobley because Cade didn't work out for them and possibly made it seem like he doesn't want to play for us.
Giannis was 6'9" /196 lbs and Capela 6'10"/ 220 lbs when they were drafted. Capela was also playing against grown men in the French league. Also Giannis clearly has broad shoulders and a NBA frame when he was drafted as a wing. USC played one of the weakest schedules out of the top 25 NCAA teams. I didn't make up physics and leverage. I'm just saying it's not some foregone conclusion that Mobley can bulk up.
So GIannis has gone from 196 to 242 and Capela has gone from 222-240.....and you think Mobley can't go from 215 to 230 or so? Okay.... I mean, worst case scenario and Mobley becomes one of the few players who can't benefit from a professional strength program, you still have an elite defender that can switch 1-5, protect the paint, and can pass and shoot on the other side of the ball....still a potential all star caliber player.
I literally said "I dont think its a foregone conclusion that he can bulk up". Capela and Giannis aren't built the same. Assuming he can reach that sort of potential after having a pretty easy college schedule. He's the biggest project and is going to have to put in a lot of work, especially if his frame limits him to be more of a 1-4 defensive force while being a weak side threat against traditional centers.
At this point, I would go with the safer pick. Getting cute doesn't suit them but it's MoTown. What's Cade's floor? 16 and 6? Or pick Cade for another team, for another Allstar, better than risking IMO.
I think it's more likely than not that Mobley could add an additional 15-20 pounds in a professional strength program. So, sure, not a "foregone conclusion", but I think it's more likely that he could add those 15-20 pounds than it is Green will learn some PG skills so in my mind, that makes him less of a project.
It's also not a foregone conclusion that Mobley can be a defensive force outside of playing for a weak USC strength of schedule. It's not entirely his fault, but he could have proved against much stiffer and physical competition. #2 for an above average defender and scorer...... IDK seems risky.
Wow. Okay, well I guess we'll just see what happens. Your take that he's only average defensively is....well unique. Who knows, maybe everyone else in the world is wrong.
I think that's a likely outcome based on the variance of Mobley, just above average. The competition Mobley played against is concerning.
It was the same or better competition than literally anyone else in this draft. Before you hype up the G league, remember this is a league that was full on dominated by guys who have no business warming benches in the NBA.
Those same guys would dominate college at the state of development that they were at when they played in the G league. There's levels to this and you have so much bias that you refuse to acknowledge it.
