Picked by Philip Rossman-Reich
When you are the worst team in the league, you draft the best player even if there are other players on the roster that seem to duplicate his skills. So this should not be super complicated.
Cade Cunningham is the best player in this draft. He is a skilled playmaker and a lethal scorer. At times, you wanted him to take over games more as the freshman deferred to older teammates or tried too hard to get others involved.
But when Cunningham got himself going, it was hard to stop him. Teams knew that limiting him was going to be the tallest task for them to accomplish. He simply dominated play when he wanted to.
Like so many other great scoring guards in college, what catches you by surprise is his passing ability. He wanted to get others involved because he knew he could. And Cunningham was a gifted passer who could put passes through tight spaces on a dime.
His shooting ability and size will also enable him to play off the ball a bit too. There are not really any holes in his game — maybe defensively, but he has all the physical tools to be a good defender when he is engaged.
Any team would be happy to draft Cunningham and add him to the team. He should be the consensus pick and the thought of him learning from John Wall and slinging passes to Christian Wood should be a good place for the Houston Rockets to restart.
Picked by Isaac Ryu
The Detroit Pistons already have a decent group of young guys at the guard and forward positions. Killian Hayes, Jerami Grant, Saddiq Bey, Saben Lee and Sekou Doumouya all are great foundational pieces. With Cade Cunningham off the board and a lack of talent at center, Evan Mobley will give the Pistons an enticing modern big to play alongside a young core.
Known for his defense and scoring touch, Mobley will give the Pistons a low-cost, high-value player at the 5.
He showed a little bit of everything at USC. Passing, scoring, shooting, rebounding and on-ball and interior defense are enticing skills for a young big to have to enter an environment where he’ll have time to grow and develop without the pressure of winning.
Mobley is one of those players you just take if he is available. Similar to Cunningham, teams will be happy to take him, he’s just that good.