Vampirate wrote:toooskies wrote:Vampirate wrote:
I've been thinking of comps for Mobley, I don't see the comparison to Duncan in him because Duncan came in and was immediately an All Star on both ends.
I think right now, a fair comp is a poor man's Dikembe Mutumbo, would you think that's fair? (he can get past this obviously)
Regular season wise KG with a 3 point shot is probably his realistic true ceiling, unless his handle drastically improves then he's probably KD + being a perennial DPOTY contender (odds of this happening are extremely low but there).
Anyways the playoffs is obviously what will tell you his ultimate ceiling is.
I can't say there's a reasonable comp/direction for Mobley. Comparing to all-timers is unfair, particularly when you don't have the elite-elite physical traits or a knockdown shot. He's got amazing defensive BBIQ, though, and is competent-or-better at nearly everything on the court.
Duncan also played in college for four years, so we can check back in on that comp in three seasons after Mobley has some time to work on his offensive game.
Just like you don't really comp KG to AD to TD, though, I think Mobley's going to be his own thing.
This is why until he is in half his 2nd year i think Mutombo is a good comp.
Mutombo came in and was an All Star but all of his contributions were on the defensive end pretty much.
I'm basically saying Mobley is a skinny Mutombo atm. Both are elite rim protectors, both can guard the perimeter and on offense both are more finishers that the point guards set up for them.
Can Mobley go past this? Sure, but time will tell.
Mutombo I believe was a way more agile Rudy Gobert.
The easiest comp is Anthony Davis ... both one and done, both in the same era, both did similar things in College, both came in to the league very thin. Evan may not be as athletic but his functional athleticism and IQ may make that moot.
But depending how Evan fills out and develops his offense - he could hop off the AD/KG/TD track and start heading in more of a KD/Giannis direction.
Just a world of possibilities when a big is playing like this so early in his career.
But Dikembe didn't even enter the league until he was 25 ... if that's Evans upside then we have to assume his improvements are mostly small and incremental... gets stronger, gains some experience, improves his rebounding and shot blocking ... and that's about it.
I've watched LeBron and Kyrie develop and the biggest difference wasn't LeBron's physical gifts ... it was his BBIQ and drive to figure out what it takes to win. Kyrie was basically doing Steph things at 4 years younger, but Steph kept taking his game to higher levels while Kyrie seemed content to just keep doing what he was doing.
There's just too many things we can't predict, but Evan is about as flawless as they come at his age. If he adds no off the dribble moves, no new post moves, can't shoot 3s, and gets stronger but still has a weak base, even suffers a foot/knee injury... he should still become a very valuable player.
He's so far ahead of top prospects who became rim protectors / rim runners like Nerlens Noel or Tyson Chandler.