I'd take Mobley or Green over Cunningham.

[gouki88]

That Cunningham is not at all reliant on athleticism makes him an even better prospect, imo.

It's tricky. I said the same things about Luka Doncic and Markelle Fultz. Got one right and one horribly wrong

[Celtics4ever]

We are not going to have to worry about taking any of those three.........

[Vermont Green]

That Cunningham is not at all reliant on athleticism makes him an even better prospect, imo.

It's tricky. I said the same things about Luka Doncic and Markelle Fultz. Got one right and one horribly wrong

So Gouki88 has about the same batting average as the scouts.  I think this is a big thing that many who post don't account for.  Drafting is a crap shoot even for scouts and GMs who break down every minute of film and talk to coaches, etc.  There is no way to project a players talent with certainty.

That is why in general, you get the best result if you have more chances at top pick.  If you have the number 1 and trade for say #5 and a future pick you hope is in the top 5, you have twice the chance almost of landing a start.

The Doncic - Young trade may prove to counter this general approach but I think that is more about the player ATL targeted (Young) than the strategy.  Young has turned out to be good but he is so small.

I don't know if Cunningham is sure fire or Mobley or who ever and neither do the scouts.  in general, I would trade this #1 if I got Mobley and another really good pick or player.  Maybe Cunningham is the next Magic Johnson, I don't know, but that is my philosophy on drafting.

[Moranis]

Cunningham is the best prospect.  Don't really think it is all that close.

That said, the best prospect often is not the best player. 

[Smartacus]

I would still take Cunningham. If I'm building a team from scratch like Detroit, Cade is the most complete player to build around, just fill out the roster around him with a secondary scorer and shooters and you're on the way. Cunningham has massive hands and a frame that looks like he's going to continue to fill out into an NBA caliber lead ball handler. Pair that with his solid shooting mechanics and rock solid demeanor and I think you take him and don't look back.

Jalen Green is a crafty and acrobatic scorer but he's currently only about 174 pounds which is really thin for his size. I think that he could become discontented on a team where he is the best player. Suddenly he finds himself running into double and triple teams because he has no one to pass too and starts sending out cryptic tweets about frustration. If I was a team that already had a young all star prospect(I.E. Ja Morant) Green might be at the top of my list since he has the potential to be the 1A/1B to an exciting core but if I'm starting from a tear down I take Cunningham.

Mobley is a very good prospect but I agree with what Mike Schmitz said on the recent episode of Dunc'd On. Unlike Cade and especially Green, Mobley never really turns on the jets and goes all out. Seems like the type of player that will have a career filled with very good games but may not ever reach top tier performance. More like Lamarcus Aldridge than Anthony Davis.

All that said this has the potential to be a historically great top 5 since Suggs is such a rare blend of athleticism and intangibles and Scottie Barnes might have the most impressive frame we've seen in a long time. This draft has a really high floor, any team in the top 5-7 has a great chance of walking away with a franchise cornerstone.

[Erik]

Am I the only one that thinks both Green and Mobley will be better pros than Cunningham? All three will be good but Cunningham's athletism is questionable.

No, you are not. I think you can add Suggs to that list too.

I'm just not sure how Cunningham will look being guarded by top NBA defenders. He has a slow first step.

People said the same thing about Tatum and now he’s practically unstoppable off the dribble. The answer is you enter the league as a decent pro and grow into someone who is an elite player with training and practice. Work ethic is super important in talent evaluation.

Tatum is way more athletic than Cunningham and Tatum has a better handle even when he first came out. I haven't heard anyone comparing Cunningham to Tatum.

Not comparing the two, but noting that similar things were said about Tatum.. for example after a 5 second google search this write up from Draftexpress

“ With that said, there is some concern projecting certain aspects of Tatum's offensive game to the next level, most notably his ability to get to the rim against similar athletes. Like many tall forwards at the collegiate level, Tatum played a large portion of his minutes at the power forward spot to make way for Duke's deep perimeter attack. This afforded Tatum a quickness advantage that may not always be there at the next level.     Despite Tatum's size and fluidity, he's not an exceptionally explosive athlete by NBA standards, with an average first step that was further slowed down by a high and loose dribble. Tatum's skill level, footwork, and ability to change speeds helped him mitigate that, for the most part, at the college level, although even there he settled for more difficult pull-ups and floaters than you would have preferred, shots with a high degree of difficulty and a comparatively low expected value. Tatum will have to further refine his ball handling and diversify his skill set in order to consistently create efficient shots for himself at a high level in the NBA. - Source: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jayson-Tatum-7249/ ©DraftExpress”


Looks silly now right ? He worked hard to get to this stage.

[ETNCeltics]

That Cunningham is not at all reliant on athleticism makes him an even better prospect, imo.

It's tricky. I said the same things about Luka Doncic and Markelle Fultz. Got one right and one horribly wrong

Fultz's problem is not his athleticism. It's between his ears.

[Smartacus]

That Cunningham is not at all reliant on athleticism makes him an even better prospect, imo.

It's tricky. I said the same things about Luka Doncic and Markelle Fultz. Got one right and one horribly wrong

Fultz's problem is not his athleticism. It's between his ears.

Fultz was a more explosive leaper and shiftier iso scorer than Cade. Doncic had more bulk and "it factor?" than Cade. Cade seems like he has a more solid overall feel for the game than Fultz did at the time. 

Do not think Cade will be in the same building as Doncic as a player but he has way less bust potential than Fultz due to his cleaner mechanics.

Edit: Hindsight is 20/20 with Fultz bust potential. To be clear I was super high on Fultz when he came out, thought he could be the next James Harden. I do think Cade has a higher floor however than Fultz did at the time.

[action781]

I’m not much of a scout, but I’m confused by some of the hype.  Mobley is being compared to a hybrid of Anthony Davis and Chris Bosh.  I can’t imagine there being a better prospect than that, and yet he’s projected to go third.

I would say he's more like just 90% of a healthy Anthony Davis on both ends of the floor.  Which is an awesome player.  I don't see him ever becoming an MVP player though.  What I really like about him is his ability to constantly affect the game positively without needing the ball in his hands, kind of like Tim Duncan used to or how Al Horford or Deandre Ayton have recently.

[Somebody]

I’m not much of a scout, but I’m confused by some of the hype.  Mobley is being compared to a hybrid of Anthony Davis and Chris Bosh.  I can’t imagine there being a better prospect than that, and yet he’s projected to go third.

I would say he's more like just 90% of a healthy Anthony Davis on both ends of the floor.  Which is an awesome player.  I don't see him ever becoming an MVP player though.  What I really like about him is his ability to constantly affect the game positively without needing the ball in his hands, kind of like Tim Duncan used to or how Al Horford or Deandre Ayton have recently.

90% of a healthy Anthony Davis isn't an MVP player?!!! First option and winning bias is real lol.

[Somebody]

I would still take Cunningham. If I'm building a team from scratch like Detroit, Cade is the most complete player to build around, just fill out the roster around him with a secondary scorer and shooters and you're on the way. Cunningham has massive hands and a frame that looks like he's going to continue to fill out into an NBA caliber lead ball handler. Pair that with his solid shooting mechanics and rock solid demeanor and I think you take him and don't look back.

Jalen Green is a crafty and acrobatic scorer but he's currently only about 174 pounds which is really thin for his size. I think that he could become discontented on a team where he is the best player. Suddenly he finds himself running into double and triple teams because he has no one to pass too and starts sending out cryptic tweets about frustration. If I was a team that already had a young all star prospect(I.E. Ja Morant) Green might be at the top of my list since he has the potential to be the 1A/1B to an exciting core but if I'm starting from a tear down I take Cunningham.

Mobley is a very good prospect but I agree with what Mike Schmitz said on the recent episode of Dunc'd On. Unlike Cade and especially Green, Mobley never really turns on the jets and goes all out. Seems like the type of player that will have a career filled with very good games but may not ever reach top tier performance. More like Lamarcus Aldridge than Anthony Davis.

All that said this has the potential to be a historically great top 5 since Suggs is such a rare blend of athleticism and intangibles and Scottie Barnes might have the most impressive frame we've seen in a long time. This draft has a really high floor, any team in the top 5-7 has a great chance of walking away with a franchise cornerstone.

Yeah it's relatively easy to build around a heliocentric piece like Cunningham, the only thing that will limit Detroit is Cunningham's ceiling assuming that they don't make stupid moves over and over again that gut the team for poor fits.

[Tr1boy]

Suggs is the top prospect for me.

I place higher importance on IQ vs physical tools

[boscel33]

I might take Mobley over Cade, but I'd take Cade over Green.

[gift]

If I'm swinging for the fences I probably do take Green and maybe Mobley over Cunningham. But Cunningham is good enough that you can potentially hit a home run on a check swing. So that probably makes him the right pick.

[Moranis]

I’m not much of a scout, but I’m confused by some of the hype.  Mobley is being compared to a hybrid of Anthony Davis and Chris Bosh.  I can’t imagine there being a better prospect than that, and yet he’s projected to go third.

I would say he's more like just 90% of a healthy Anthony Davis on both ends of the floor.  Which is an awesome player.  I don't see him ever becoming an MVP player though.  What I really like about him is his ability to constantly affect the game positively without needing the ball in his hands, kind of like Tim Duncan used to or how Al Horford or Deandre Ayton have recently.

90% of a healthy Anthony Davis isn't an MVP player?!!! First option and winning bias is real lol.

considering Anthony Davis has never won a MVP and has finished in the top 4 only once, I'd say that 90% of him is not in fact a MVP player.