2021 Draft thread. Woo! 15th pick here we come! Hoo. Ray.

[Ruzious]

If Suggs&Mobley are off the board, I’d be fine with Cunningham, but the debate for me atleast, is about Green vs Cunningham, not Cunningham vs Mobley&Suggs.

A trade back from that position would be a much better move.

Same here. Cade certainly makes the draft stronger and would be a very fine 3rd pick - but he'd be meh as the 1st pick - which I think he will be - which works fine because we don't need to get the 1st pick to get Mobley. And if we do get #1, we could/should trade down to 2 or 3 to get Mobley.

I'd be happy with Cade, either Jalen or Evan. I think you can make a strong case for all 4 being very good players on the NBA level. I would not trade back if we get a top 4 pick. Wouldn't consider it short of trading for a proven young star under contract and even then I probably don't do it.

You draft an all-star quality player... you have him basically guaranteed for the next 7 years at a huge discount. You really shouldn't pass that up unless there's a superstar your getting back on the other end.

Once you get to 5 then I'd consider a trade down depending on what I think of Kuminga and the rest of the class.

Regardless of what pick we get in the lottery, I want the Wiz to either use it to pick Mobley or trade it to pick Mobley.

[NatP4]

I think Suggs will be a better pro than Mobley but I want to come out of draft night with both of them via a Beal trade with Toronto or NOP.

[NatP4]

Every year people act like the draft is loaded and the top 3 picks are all future superstars, every year there is a bust in the top 3.

2016 might be the only draft in the last 20 years that didn’t feature a bust in the top 3 picks. Bender did go 4th though.

[DCZards]

Regardless of what pick we get in the lottery, I want the Wiz to either use it to pick Mobley or trade it to pick Mobley.

I'd be thrilled with a draft that led to Mobley in a Zards uni. Mobley meets a clear need for a shotblocker and rebounder, and I love his passing for a big.

But, if I'm the Zards, I'd probably draft Cunningham or Suggs over him because I think both are more NBA ready than Mobley, who needs to get a lot bigger and stronger.

If Beal is going to be the core piece in the rebuild, I prefer drafting a player who's going to contribute sooner rather than later.

[Ruzious]

Regardless of what pick we get in the lottery, I want the Wiz to either use it to pick Mobley or trade it to pick Mobley.

I'd be thrilled with a draft that led to Mobley in a Zards uni. Mobley meets a clear need for a shotblocker and rebounder, and I love his passing for a big.

But, if I'm the Zards, I'd probably draft Cunningham or Suggs over him because I think both are more NBA ready than Mobley, who needs to get a lot bigger and stronger.

If Beal is going to be the core piece in the rebuild, I prefer drafting a player who's going to contribute sooner rather than later.

Not so much if you view him as a Chris Bosh type player at PF - though I don't think any of them is going to be anything special as a rookie.

[DCZards]

Regardless of what pick we get in the lottery, I want the Wiz to either use it to pick Mobley or trade it to pick Mobley.

I'd be thrilled with a draft that led to Mobley in a Zards uni. Mobley meets a clear need for a shotblocker and rebounder, and I love his passing for a big.

But, if I'm the Zards, I'd probably draft Cunningham or Suggs over him because I think both are more NBA ready than Mobley, who needs to get a lot bigger and stronger.

If Beal is going to be the core piece in the rebuild, I prefer drafting a player who's going to contribute sooner rather than later.

Not so much if you view him as a Chris Bosh type player at PF - though I don't think any of them is going to be anything special as a rookie.

I do view Mobley as similar to Bosh. I just don't know if he has Bosh's shooting ability. Chris was a tremendous perimeter shooter for a man his size.

[NatP4]

I'd be thrilled with a draft that led to Mobley in a Zards uni. Mobley meets a clear need for a shotblocker and rebounder, and I love his passing for a big.

But, if I'm the Zards, I'd probably draft Cunningham or Suggs over him because I think both are more NBA ready than Mobley, who needs to get a lot bigger and stronger.

If Beal is going to be the core piece in the rebuild, I prefer drafting a player who's going to contribute sooner rather than later.

Not so much if you view him as a Chris Bosh type player at PF - though I don't think any of them is going to be anything special as a rookie.

I do view Mobley as similar to Bosh. I just don't know if he has Bosh's shooting ability. Chris was a tremendous perimeter shooter for a man his size.

Bosh didn’t become a 3pt threat until his 12th season in the NBA.

I like the comparison in terms of pick and roll defense and switching ability as well as the ability to be a mobile offensive player that can create some offense and pass. Mobley adds more explosive finishing ability on offense and elite rim protecting. He’ll be a 3-4 blocks per game guy that Bosh never was. Also has a very similar demeanor as Bosh.

Bosh+Myles Turner hybrid.

[prime1time]

Watch on YouTube

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[Dat2U]

Mobley is not ready but bigs like him don't come around every year.

Suggs is ready and likely will outwork anyone and everyone. I'm now leaning towards him as my #1.

Cunningham is the most offensively skilled player we've seen a few years at his height. He's not just going to be a volume wing scorer.

Do not sleep on Green! Elite athleticism. Solid skill level. Proven success against high competition. He's a top 5 pick in any year!

[DCZards]

Not so much if you view him as a Chris Bosh type player at PF - though I don't think any of them is going to be anything special as a rookie.

I do view Mobley as similar to Bosh. I just don't know if he has Bosh's shooting ability. Chris was a tremendous perimeter shooter for a man his size.

Bosh didn’t become a 3pt threat until his 12th season in the NBA.

I'm not talking about Bosh's 3pt shooting. That was never a significant part of his game. I'm talking about his midrange shooting...from 15-20 ft.

[Ruzious]

I do view Mobley as similar to Bosh. I just don't know if he has Bosh's shooting ability. Chris was a tremendous perimeter shooter for a man his size.

Bosh didn’t become a 3pt threat until his 12th season in the NBA.

I'm not talking about Bosh's 3pt shooting. That was never a significant part of his game. I'm talking about his midrange shooting...from 15-20 ft.

Very true - Bosh had an excellent perimeter game going back to his college days. Bosh has the advantage there.

[nate33]

Regardless of what pick we get in the lottery, I want the Wiz to either use it to pick Mobley or trade it to pick Mobley.

I'd be thrilled with a draft that led to Mobley in a Zards uni. Mobley meets a clear need for a shotblocker and rebounder, and I love his passing for a big.

But, if I'm the Zards, I'd probably draft Cunningham or Suggs over him because I think both are more NBA ready than Mobley, who needs to get a lot bigger and stronger.

If Beal is going to be the core piece in the rebuild, I prefer drafting a player who's going to contribute sooner rather than later.

This really makes a lot of sense.

Mobley is a project. If we draft him, we are looking at a window 3-4 years down the road. We better be damn sure Beal is prepared for that or else we should trade Beal.

Suggs and Cunningham should help immediately, and could conceivably be borderline All-Star caliber players by their 3rd season. They fit the Beal timeline.

[nate33]

Something tells me the wiz are going to win the lottery and take Cunningham, then try to turn him into an offball 3&D wing.

Honestly not the worst idea. That is: I don't think he would ever play long in an offball role, but Cade next to high-usage Beal and Westbrook will have an effect on the team. Our defense at 3 picks up, we add another smart ball handler, we add outside shooting, steals, and without the pressure to carry a team with his dribbles and passing his current deficits (turnovers) are minimized. Plus will have targets to hit who can make points out of his passes. Cade as a tertiary passer and ballhandler is a significant asset, and at 6'8" he can make passes that smaller ballhandlers can't see. Cade to Gafford is a serious weapon that few can interrupt. Rui has good hands, Cade will figure out how to best use Rui. And when things breakdown you will have a go-to scorer who is looking to get his own when he gets a chance. As for maturity, if you listen to him in interviews and watch him break down film he seems plenty mature and poised, especially for a 19 year old kid. Between Russ and Beal he will be surrounded by guys who exemplify professionalism off the court.

Defensively he is poised and smart and reads the floor well. He sees the spacing and the play developing before it happens. He would be an ideal captain on defense to help guide players like Rui and Bryant. I see him at times directing the action on defense, same at Montverde, pointing out where they are supposed to be. As a frontcourt player he can play a role on orchestrating defense. I can see him use Gafford like a grandmaster with a castle, guiding him in position to snuff the attack and shut off avenues of offense before they get started.

Watch on YouTube

Yes Suggs is phenomenal, poised as anyone I have ever seen in college. Because of his redundancy with Westbrook and Beal he may be starved of touches early on. His greatest utility may be if he allows a coach to shift Russ to a 6th man role down the line. I still don't see that happening.

As for redundancy with Cade. Regarding Rui and Deni. To me they all seem complementary. Cade will get stronger. Deni has been streaky with the 3 ball, but that's primarily because he has not been given freedom to be a multi-level threat. There is an offense/defense blend where you can actually play all 3 of these guys at once, if you are smart about it. Either of Deni/Cade rebounds and has the option to bring it up the floor or run on attack, both have the option of making the smart pass. Redundancy becomes depth in that case since you have players who can effectively play 1-4 and guard big at their position. With Brad and a Defensive/lob-threat center, or on offense, a long ball Big there are sets and a mix that could be really interesting. We are not using the players we have to their greatest efficiency, but a smart coach will use a trio of big smart versatile 'tweeners' as the heart of a really tough team to handle. And next to a smooth scoring smart passer like Beal? There's something special there. Again I go back to Jay Wright. But still, any Euro coach would love to have these weapons.

I'm still for Evan Mobley at the top of the draft for this team. But if we get a top 3 pick I have full confidence we will land a player who proves really special on this squad.

Agree with all of this. I'm totally fine with drafting Cunningham. I'm also quite certain the team has him number 1 on their draft board. The only thing guys like Fred Katz and David Aldridge talk about is the Wizards desire for help at SF and a rim protecting center. (Mobley is a rim protecting PF for the next few years, not a center.) I could see Cunningham starting alongside Westbrook and Beal as an off-ball player at first, but then steadily taking on more ball-handling as they try and phase out Westbrook.

The other thing that is nice about Cade is that he can play some minutes at SG as well. Basically, you play any 4 among Westbrook, Beal, Cunningham, Avdija and Hachimura at the 1, 2, 3 and 4. It doesn't really matter which 4 are on the floor, you can make it work. Ultimately, they can all play 30+ minutes. Guys like Mathews and Hutchison fill in the gaps.

[Illuminaire]

The problem with this analysis is it doesn't match the respective skill sets. Problem with Rudy & Andrew was skill. Limited handle and a shaky jumper. Cade is probably a SF but had to play PG for OK State. That tells you his handle is far more advanced than either of those 2. Secondly, he's already projects to be a much better shot maker than those 2, the ft% & 3pt% and volume confirm it. Cade is not an elite athlete with some skill, he's a solid athlete with elite skill, major difference.

Cade will not bust. He's already too skilled for that. It's just a question to me of whether he'll eventually be one of top 5 best players in the league or just a top 30 guy which is still very very good.

I never said he would bust. In fact I was very clear that he will have a long career. I said he would disappoint if he is picked over the other top players in this draft.

I believe his 'elite skills' are currently overrated, aside from shooting. He passes accurately, because he has fantastic coordination. But I haven't seen much evidence that he has great vision or the kind of predictive passing ability of a great distributor. That's fine, he'll be perfectly good at making the smart obvious pass. People who think he can be a true PG are going to be frustrated, though.

Then there's his handle. I only watched his last three games, but in those, I watched him get chased down from behind a half dozen times on fast breaks. He couldn't dribble at full speed.

I think his elite skill is hand-eye coordination. It gives him a seemingly tight handle, when he's not pushed to full speed. It gives him great touch and fantastic shooting. And that one skill is enough to build a career around!

What it's not is enough to make a superstar. Which is what you want, or at least a shot at, with the number 1 pick in a strong draft. His completely average athleticism is going to mean he needs exceptional skills to be an all-NBA kind of player, and aside from the aforementioned 99th percentile hand-eye coordination, I'm not seeing evidence of these other exceptional capabilities.

If I'm wrong... definitely throw shade on me in years to come. If.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Curious.... any thoughts on Timme ?

[SUPERBALLMAN]

If we somehow do end up coming away with Mobley, would you consider adding his brother Isaiah also? I didn't realize he's listed at 6-10. The games I saw he looked pretty good, and it could be interesting to keep them together. Draft Room has him listed at 58, so a late 2nd should be easily obtained, and he may even be available undrafted.

[nate33]

If we somehow do end up coming away with Mobley, would you consider adding his brother Isaiah also? I didn't realize he's listed at 6-10. The games I saw he looked pretty good, and it could be interesting to keep them together. Draft Room has him listed at 58, so a late 2nd should be easily obtained, and he may even be available undrafted.

I love everything about Isaiah Mobley except the fact that he can't shoot outside of 3 feet. He is only a 45% shooter from 2P range and his FT% is 54%.

Ultimately, I don't see why he is a better prospect than Yoeli Childs.

[Illuminaire]

Curious.... any thoughts on Timme ?

I don't know if he has a role in the modern NBA. He's a poor shooter who scores via a post-up game and excellent footwork. He's not a plus rebounder for his size. He's not a rim protector and there's little chance he could cover NBA guards if he had to switch.

It's too bad, because he's really good at what he does. Where do you think he could fit on an NBA team?

[prime1time]

Suggs might be able to elevate himself to #1. It's one thing to have talent and skill and athleticism. But it's another thing to be a winner. Suggs has that unquantifiable quality that great players have. Gonzaga v Baylor here we go.

[9 and 20]

Wiz would probably struggle to beat Gonzaga with Beal out.