Cade leads all rookies at #6 on ESPN's 25 under 25 in 2022

Laimbeer · Post #1 » by **Laimbeer** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 3:34 pm

ESPN's 25 Under 25 List
1. Luka Doncic
2. Jayson Tatum
3. Ja Morant
4. Trae Young
5. LaMelo Ball
6. Cade Cunningham
7. Zion Williamson
8. Bam Adebayo
9. Darius Garland
10. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
11. Anthony Edwards
12. Brandon Ingram
13. Scottie Barnes
14. Tyrese Haliburton
15. Evan Mobley
16. Miles Bridges
17. Desmond Bane
18. Jarrett Allen
19. Deandre Ayton
20. Tyler Herro
21. Jalen Green
22. De'Aaron Fox
23. John Collins
24. Tyrese Maxey
25. Jaren Jackson Jr.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/266499/Doncic-Tatum-Morant-Headline-ESPNs-25-Under-25-List-For-2022

Post #2 » by **Cowology** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 3:42 pm

It's really amazing how many good young pg's are on the list. 5 of your top 6 and then you have like 6 or 7 more after that. That's almost half of your top 25.

vege · Post #3 » by **vege** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 4:31 pm

That's awesome, he is ahead of some amazing players like Bam and Garland.

Laimbeer · Post #4 » by **Laimbeer** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 4:34 pm

Mobley seems low and Garland seems high.

vege · Post #5 » by **vege** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 4:39 pm

Garland is good. I think Allen is low.

GreekAlex · Post #6 » by **GreekAlex** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 4:49 pm

Miles Bridges and Ayton seem the most attainable.

I'm not sure why the board doesn't have more interest in Bridges. I'm not sure that I'm interested in Ayton at the price he'll command.

Bridges would be a great replacement for Grant and seems to do better in a role as a complimentary player. At his age and his stage of his development, I'd be way more comfortable giving him a big contract as opposed to Grant.

buzzkilloton · Post #7 » by **buzzkilloton** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 4:56 pm

I feel like the non Cade rookies are a bit undervalued here. Barnes,Mobley, and even Green(yeah i was hating on him during season but he has came on strong last few months) should be moved up for sure. Franz is also being underrated once again he should surely be in the 20s.

Zion cant stay healthy hes to high. SGA seems to always be hurt as well I'd prefer any of the big 4 of this year over him.

Post #8 » by **Cowology** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 4:58 pm

Look at how many of those names are bigs. Tatum is great, but Zion is sorta whatever at this point. Outside of that you have a handful of solid role players, but non of them are really impact players. That's just not how the game is being played right now. Even Tatum is very tweenerish.

If you are lucky enough to have an Embiid, Jokic or Giannis that is great but only a small handful of teams have that opportunity. This list is really about guys at the 1-2-3 spots. You're going to see more teams playing even smaller with that C position continuing to shrink and the PF spot looking more like the SF position of yesteryear.

buzzkilloton · Post #9 » by **buzzkilloton** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 4:58 pm

Laimbeer wrote:Mobley seems low and Garland seems high.

Garland is awesome and having a breakout season. Agree Mobley was way underranked.

Laimbeer · Post #10 » by **Laimbeer** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 4:59 pm

I think Zion at #7 considers his health. If healthy, he'd be top 2 or 3.

buzzkilloton · Post #11 » by **buzzkilloton** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:30 pm

Laimbeer wrote:I think Zion at #7 considers his health. If healthy, he'd be top 2 or 3.

Thats a massive sized if at this point. Hes already had a knee injury and a serious foot injury. Theirs tons of guys with lots of upside without the huge injury flags on the resume.

NYPiston · Post #12 » by **NYPiston** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:42 pm

Cade above Zion, SGA and Edwards. The man is getting respect, finally. Nice to see
A little surprised to see Mobley so low. I'd have him in the top 10, I'd have him above his own teammate Garland for example even though Garland is quite a player himself.
Herro above Green is pretty questionable too.

Post #13 » by **Cowology** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:44 pm

buzzkilloton wrote:
Laimbeer wrote:I think Zion at #7 considers his health. If healthy, he'd be top 2 or 3.

Thats a massive sized if at this point. Hes already had a knee injury and a serious foot injury. Theirs tons of guys with lots of upside without the huge injury flags on the resume.

Dude is just looking a bit too much like Derrick Coleman. Or Antoine Walker. Or Glen Davis. Or Terry Mills. Or...

flow · Post #14 » by **flow** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:48 pm

GreekAlex wrote:Miles Bridges and Ayton seem the most attainable.

I'm not sure why the board doesn't have more interest in Bridges. I'm not sure that I'm interested in Ayton at the price he'll command.

Bridges would be a great replacement for Grant and seems to do better in a role as a complimentary player. At his age and his stage of his development, I'd be way more comfortable giving him a big contract as opposed to Grant.

I'd have great interest in Bridges, were he truly available. But I don't think he is.

NYPiston · Post #15 » by **NYPiston** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:48 pm

Cowology wrote:Look at how many of those names are bigs. Tatum is great, but Zion is sorta whatever at this point. Outside of that you have a handful of solid role players, but non of them are really impact players. That's just not how the game is being played right now. Even Tatum is very tweenerish.

If you are lucky enough to have an Embiid, Jokic or Giannis that is great but only a small handful of teams have that opportunity. This list is really about guys at the 1-2-3 spots. You're going to see more teams playing even smaller with that C position continuing to shrink and the PF spot looking more like the SF position of yesteryear.

Uh, really? I can name at least 10 franchise players on that list. Am I missing something or misunderstanding what you're saying here?

Post #16 » by **Cowology** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:52 pm

NYPiston wrote:
Cowology wrote:Look at how many of those names are bigs. Tatum is great, but Zion is sorta whatever at this point. Outside of that you have a handful of solid role players, but non of them are really impact players. That's just not how the game is being played right now. Even Tatum is very tweenerish.

If you are lucky enough to have an Embiid, Jokic or Giannis that is great but only a small handful of teams have that opportunity. This list is really about guys at the 1-2-3 spots. You're going to see more teams playing even smaller with that C position continuing to shrink and the PF spot looking more like the SF position of yesteryear.

Uh, really? I can name at least 10 franchise players on that list. Am I missing something or misunderstanding what you're saying here?

10 franchise bigs on that list? Read the first sentence again. Read the rest for context clues. The entire post is about bigmen.

Post #17 » by **Snakebites** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:09 pm

What is the criteria for the list?

NYPiston · Post #18 » by **NYPiston** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:11 pm

Cowology wrote:10 franchise bigs on that list? Read the first sentence again. Read the rest for context clues. The entire post is about bigmen.

Oh, sorry. When you mentioned Tatum, it threw me off.

tmorgan · Post #19 » by **tmorgan** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:19 pm

This is exactly what I’m talking about.

You can, quite accurately, award the ROY award to someone else and still recognize that Cade is the best franchise-altering talent of the group. Scottie played better this year in a different but important role, I agree with that. But you’d never ever trade Cade for Scottie.

Post #20 » by **Snakebites** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:19 pm

vege wrote:That's awesome, he is ahead of some amazing players like Bam and Garland.

Yeah, that surprised me a lot. That's why I asked what the criteria were. If it's how they performed this year I don't see a case for him over Bam or Garland, or quite a few other guys.

There must be some projection going on in these rankings.