Haliburton vs Mobley

[durantbird]

Tyrese Haliburton - age 25

Evan Mobley - age 23

If you had to choose one of them to build around going forward, who will it be?

[tsherkin]

My first thought is that you can build competent defense without someone of Mobley's level, but you generally need someone to really drive and push your offense with significant talent, so I lean in Haliburton's direction. Mobley's a 19/9 DPOY, though, he's obviously a remarkable player. It's a different direction to take your team-building. You'd still need a focal offensive star, but you can clearly build a high-efficacy defense around him.

[AStark1991]

Mobley. Basketball has always been a big mans game and I don't see that ever changing. Especially on the defensive end, he honestly reminds me of Bill Russell. Very similar body types, both supremely athletic with the necessary speed, agility and lateral quickness to guard smaller players on the perimeter, and they both keep their blocked shots in play to start fast breaks instead of showboating and swatting it into the stands. If Mobley is able to become a consistent 25 PPG scorer while also keeping up his current level of defensive production he will be an undeniable top 5 player and legitimate MVP candidate for years to come. As clutch as he's been in this years playoffs, I just don't see Haliburton ever having that amount of a dominant impact on the league as a whole.

[One_and_Done]

Mobley. Basketball has always been a big mans game and I don't see that ever changing. Especially on the defensive end, he honestly reminds me of Bill Russell. Very similar body types, both supremely athletic with the necessary speed, agility and lateral quickness to guard smaller players on the perimeter, and they both keep their blocked shots in play to start fast breaks instead of showboating and swatting it into the stands. If Mobley is able to become a consistent 25 PPG scorer while also keeping up his current level of defensive production he will be an undeniable top 5 player and legitimate MVP candidate for years to come. As clutch as he's been in this years playoffs, I just don't see Haliburton ever having that amount of a dominant impact on the league as a whole.

That's like saying you'd have drafted Oden over KD because 'you can't teach size'. I am actually really high on what Oden would have been without injuries, probably a Dwight type of player... but he wouldn't have been as good as KD. The game has changed tremendously over the years.

This is Halliburton for sure.