It’s interesting that this poll would have looked pretty similar before the draft… so either people just stick to their preference or people are just overall convinced, that we made the right choice…
Not to mention if we pick Ivey we can still address the interior with Kessler or Williams via the Brooklyn pick or, my personal favorite scenario, packaging Wood and the Brooklyn pick to trade up to potentially take Duren.
At this point and with their age, I am still going with Green. Before the draft, with the situation the Rockets were in, I think we needed to take a swing on a guy with the highest upside and at this point, despite his struggles, I still think Green has highest upside. Will he be the best player in 5 years? I have no idea. But that's a gamble I think we needed to take and I am still happy rolling with to watch him develop. Mobley has no doubt looked great and should win Rookie of the Year this year. But I don't see his upside to be nearly as high as Green's. Also, I think he landed in a great situation in Cleveland playing next to Allen. We will never know this for sure, but I feel pretty confident if he landed here in Houston playing next to Wood we would have a significantly different opinion of him so far.
I was going to post the same Both pairs are so eerily similar, you can't help but comparing them I'll always take 2way players over those who aren't when choosing between equally rated I also tend to choose better athlete over more skilled, since physical traits cannot be developed nearly as much as skillset (other than weight/strength/endurance) once puberty ends 4/5 DEF ANCHOR BIG - MOBLEY vs CHET Mobley is a better athlete than Chet across the board, even though Chet is very athletic for a big too On DEF end, Chet is (slightly) better inside Great instincts, rotations, feel, anticipation and the best college rim protector / glass cleaner I've ever seen as a frosh Mobley is elite in these areas too other than rebounding, but is also a plus defender outside, while Chet will struggle to stay in front of NBA athletes after switches onto smaller, quicker perimeter players Chet has a more polished OFF game already, but Mobley has vast development potential in many tools on that end, so it's not a lock Chet will always be ahead here Chet cannot close the gap in athleticism to match or pass Mobley's, and since they are so similar overall, this closes the deal for me My only reservation is the competitive mentality, where Chet has his most meaningful advantage over Mobley You can tell dude is just a natural hooper He sees the game on both ends better than any current Rockets Best of all, he relishes the intense competition, never backing down and embracing physical play despite the extreme lack of bulk/power in his frame 1/2 COMBO GUARD - GREEN vs IVEY This is a much easier choice for me At this stage, Ivey has the edge both athletically and skill-wise At similar heights, Ivey is both longer and stronger already Green cannot make his arms longer, and needs a lot of work this offseason just to get close to Ivey's powerful build Both will arrive as rookies with blinding open court speed, lightning quick change of direction, and explosive leaping that rival any guard in the league They are among the elite athletes at the guard position in those areas already, right alongside Ja and Russ The edge in polish also goes to Ivey, with the biggest advantages for him as a playmaker, outside shooter, and especially as finisher Green has made major strides in these facets lately, but Ivey started way ahead of him this year and hasn't lost much ground since I like Green more shooting off the dribble from deep, but Ivey is nails when set on the catch-and-shoot, staying above 40% basically all season To a lesser extent, Ivey is also better when penetrating, though I see Green eventually becoming the superior ball-handler due to a more developed left Ivey is way ahead of Green when it comes to finishing thru contact at the rim, mainly bc he overpowers most college players, whereas Green seemingly went entire months without converting an And-1 layup, but he has improved a lot lately The only OFF skill I see as a clear victory for Green right now is pulling up from midrange This has evolved into his bread-and-butter scoring signature, and I'm all for it since he is streaky from deep and often totally ineffective going all the way to the hole When I watch him play, Ivey seems to be auditioning the Morey Rockets with his total aversion to the in-between areas of the court He may be just as effective here too, but I just haven't seen him take enough to have any idea Both are so athletically gifted, they destroy teams attacking on the break, can turn the corner on anyone, and can basically get themselves any shot at any time from anywhere against any defender Eventually teams will have to design gameplans that involve a lot of doubles to slow these guys down 1-on-1 At that point, we will start to see the true upside of both players as alphas that can carry the offense for their teams We know the scoring potential is off-the-charts already How Green and Ivey develop as playmakers will ultimately define their ceilings IMO Learning to read defenses, see the floor, anticipate doubles, and react with the correct play to set up teammates for good looks that punish the extra help defender for leaving ... That is what separates exciting scorers that excel at getting their own shots and get bounced in the first round from the superstars that can singlehandedly carry an offense all night, every night, thru the whole season, and make winning plays in crunch time to close out playoff series and advance This is the difference between Russ and Ja Morant may never approach averaging a triple double for a season, but he's already an MVP contender bc he's doing what Russ never could ... Leading his team to a top3 seed in the West by using all his natural gifts to make the game easier for his teammates, which in turn has made it easier for him to dominate by forcing defenses to respect Bane, JJJ, Brooks, Zaire, etc It looks like that light has turned on for Green recently, which is the best development I've seen for this team's future in this whole miserable season Now we just need to keep eyes on the prize a couple more weeks and find him his own Jaren Jackson Jr with a top-2 PF in June
His re-draft, not mine 1. Pistons - Evan Mobley 2. Rockets - Cade Cunningham 3. Cavs - Scottie Barnes 4. Raptors - Jonathan Kuminga 5. Magic - Jalen Green 6. Thunder - Josh Giddey 7. Warriors - Franz Wagner 8. Magic - Herb Jones 9. Kings - Alperen Sengun 10. Pelicans - Jalen Suggs 11. Hornets - Davion Mitchell 12. Spurs - Josh Primo 13. Pacers - Ayo Dosunmu 14. Warriors - Chris Duarte
Poor sengun. His greatness will never be fully recognized playing with the kings. At least we treat big men well.
Alperen Sengun. Always. If Sengun had gotten the same minutes as Mobley, he would have produced as much or more. That said, within this poll, Green. Sengun + Green + Chet or Jabari is better than Mobley + whatever. That said, I really like Mobley.
Cavs had a 107 defensive rating in the games Mobley has missed so far Cavs have had a 119 defensive rating since Jarrett Allen’s injury Has Mobley’s defensive impact as a rookie been getting massively overrated? Jalen Green has 53.5% TS, and it has been closer to 60% for awhile now…Evan Mobley has just 54.7% TS despite having 140 dunks on the season and 65% of his twos being assisted and 96% of his 23 made threes being assisted
IMO the choice still comes down to Green or Mobley. And for what it's worth, I was definitely on the pick Mobley train until the hints became a little too strong to ignore. Green was going to be our pick and it wasn't even a secret. Mobley is a terrific 2-way player, exactly as advertised. His athletic ability allows them to play multiple 7'. He's going to contribute to multiple areas of the game every night out. I just think he's hit the ceiling. Maybe he improves shooting 3s or they go to him more over his career. I just don't think he's Tim Duncan. Green's struggles are a bit of the chicken-or-egg/player-or-team scenario. He definitely contributed with a slow start but there's blame to go around, he could've come out playing like he is now and it wouldn't have mattered. Hell it barely matters now, this is just a bad team. His growth has been very noticeable and he definitely has face of the franchise, multiple all-star, 30 ppg type potential left to go. Mobley may well have been the better player pre-draft. He may be the better player now. At their peaks, I think Jalen Green is going to be the best player of the draft and that's the game of tank/draft. It's long term. Fanbases can't handle it but that's the truth. We weren't picking the best player for 21-22. We're picking to have the best player in 2025 and beyond. My pick pre-draft was Mobley. My pick now is Green. If anyone is still lamenting Mobley, my suggestion is to go look at per-100 possession/per 36 minute stats comparing Mobley against Sengun. https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm...engual01&player_id1=mobleev01&sum=0&request=1
This is key right there! Sengun has all the potential Mobley has, and more! He fouls a lot, but that's just because he is motivated and active. He'll adjust. I was the same - my pick would have been Mobley, but I really like our core of Green and Sengun now. Add a top pick and another good pick this year, another top pick next year, have Christopher, Martin, Garuba, Nix develop behind them, sign a max player when we finally have Wall off the books...it'll be great. Need to move Wall, Wood, KPJ for sure. Gordon can stay if he signs a vet min contract next. Or move him to a contender, as he deserves.
I wonder what the voting totals would look like if this thread was made today as opposed to a month ago.
I won't argue with Mobley or Barnes over Green given their overall seasons have been better, and Cade because his all around counting stats have been better, but Kuminga over Green is just laughable at this point lol.
