NBA Draft: Mock 3.0 – NY Knicks load up on offense
By Adam Kester
64. . F/PG. Detroit Pistons. Cade Cunningham. 1. player
2021 NBA Draft Mock 3.0: Detroit Pistons select Cade Cunningham
The easiest pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
There are some smokescreen reports about the Detroit Pistons being interested in trading down but I don’t buy it. The Pistons need someone who can burden the load of uplifting the franchise after years of lackluster basketball, and they get rewarded with a special point-forward prospect in Cade Cunningham.
Cunningham is ready to go. The 19-year-old has an NBA-ready body at 6’8, 220 lbs and will step into an immediate featured role with Detroit.
The Pistons have some nice young pieces already in place with Isaiah Stewart, Saddiq Bey, and Killian Hayes. Cade Cunningham is positionless in the same way that other players of the same archetype, such as Luka Doncic and LeBron James are. Just give him the ball and let him be the focal point.
You preferably play him on the wing alongside 2 guards, but he has the agility to play in the backcourt as well. Regardless, he’s going to be running the Pistons’ offense and he becomes the centerpiece they need to legitimize their rebuild.
player. 169. . C. Houston Rockets. Evan Mobley. 2
2021 NBA Draft Mock 3.0: Houston Rockets select Evan Mobley
The Houston Rockets kick off their 2021 NBA Draft class with the supremely talented big man, Evan Mobley.
The Rockets could go in a few different directions with this pick and take any of the 3 prospects from the “2nd tier” of this draft, but there’s strong reason to believe they opt to go with Mobley.
The 7-foot Mobley possesses a rare blend of athleticism and coordination for someone his size and he’s just started to scratch the surface of the type of player he could become.
For as dominant as Christian Wood looked in his first season in Houston, I have no reason to believe why he can’t comfortably play the 4 with Mobley slotting in as the team’s center.
Over the last 10 years, only 4 freshmen have finished top-3 in the nation in box plus/minus: Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zion Williamson, and Evan Mobley.
The Rockets are getting a franchise-changing center prospect to become the prime piece of their rebuild.