Cade Cunningham, every time
Evan Mobley will most likely win Rookie of the Year. But after their matchup on Sunday evening, it's clear Cade Cunningham will be the better NBA player.
I made sure to buy tickets to see my hometown Pistons match up with the Cavaliers. I felt it was imperative to see Evan Mobley in person.
Mobley has generated quite a bit of buzz. He deserves it. He is already among the world’s best big men, an alien sent down from the galaxy to block shots and cover space in ways that humans cannot. He’s on track to become a generational defensive talent with a clear role that translates to winning basketball. He’s superstar-bound.
But the Pistons beat the Cavs, 115-105. And on the drive home, I remembered that most people are still going to pick Evan Mobley for Rookie of the Year. That’s fine — he can have it. Let me talk my shit real quick:
I’ll still take Cade Cunningham on my team. Every. Single. Time.
A lot of this hinges on my position on NBA team-building philosophy. In my mind, it only makes sense to build around a center if they are generational offensive talents. You can easily pick them out today: Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Karl-Anthony Towns should be on this list, but the Timberwolves are just now creating an environment for him to succeed.
Evan Mobley is talented around the rim. He can jump super high and do cool shit in the air. It’s obvious that he’s ahead of schedule, as young bigs usually take a long time to figure out NBA spacing — Mobley is always in the right place at the right time. And most intriguing of all, it seems like he’s going to gain the strength to punish defenders down low.
He’s shown flashes, but it would take a massive jump in Mobley’s shooting or playmaking to call him a generational offensive talent. Defensively, he is a game-breaker. But there’s a defensive game-breaker in Utah who’s been limited offensively, and we know how things have turned out for him.
So if you don’t have a center who is on the way to offensive superstardom, what’s the next best thing to have? History shows that it’s a wing-sized creator who you trust to have the ball for as much as possible.
I am biased. I have told anyone who will listen about my love for Cade Cunningham. My tweets back it up (check the date on this one — this is before the 2020 NBA Draft). Even before we knew Detroit was getting the no. 1 pick, I was all-aboard the MotorCade — prepared to follow his career as close as I do my own.
And even though Cade went 0-10 from the field in the first half against Cleveland, he is the exact kind of wing-sized creator I wanted to have the ball for the entire second half.
He can serve a dish on a silver platter:
Or he can cook a five-course meal at home:
It’s easy to be highlight-centric when comparing two players. It’s all of the other stuff that doesn’t make it to Twitter — the anticipatory jump into the passing lane to steal a corner swing pass, the little tips and pokes on rebounds to create second chances, the inability to get rattled by a bad start and the ability to rise to the occasion that make Cade so valuable.
Evan Mobley is an incredible talent in a winning situation. He’s next to another incredible rim-protector and rebounder in Jarrett Allen. He has Darius Garland (who I would now label as a superstar after what he’s been doing this season) dropping dimes and drilling threes.
Cade is getting on-ball creation reps on a mostly desolate team, and what were bright flashes of future offensive star potential have turned into a frickin’ thunderstorm. That 0-10 first half turned into a 19-point triple-double with only one turnover, giving Detroit their 12th win of the season against an awesome Cavs team.
This quote from Cade Cunningham further proves my point. Cade cannot wake up tomorrow and become Godzilla in the paint like Evan Mobley. And Mobley can’t wake up tomorrow as a polished initiator and dynamic pull-up shooter.
By tapping into Cade’s game, Mobley could become an offensive juggernaut just like the other awesome bigs in the league. Until then, he’s a game-changing defensive talent and a growing presence around the rim.
When it was time to win, Cade became the engine of the Pistons’ offense.
What Mobley needs to reach his highest outcome, Cade already has.
Cade Cunningham. Every. Single. Time.
Joe Burrow… NBA star?
I’m forever intrigued by professional athletes, especially those who are dead serious about their ability to play another sport besides their own. To hear Super Bowl-bound Joe Burrow thinks he could score double-digits in an NBA game… well, I want to see it, damnit!
On the football field, Joe Brrr is Captain Cool. I did some digging to see if he has any basketball experience — this man scored nearly 1,500 points in his high school career! He was that dude. From The Athens Messenger:
Burrow was also the Tri-Valley Conference Ohio Division Most Valuable Player. Athens didn’t lose a league game during Burrow’s final two seasons, going 22-3 overall his senior year. The Bulldogs won three sectional title and three league titles during his tenure. His sophomore season resulted in Athens’ first district title since 1965.
All is well in ATL
The Hawks have won seven straight. If it holds, this is the third season in the row Atlanta has raced back into the playoff picture with a monster start to the second half of the season. We’ve made fun of Atlanta’s defense for months, and it’s no coincidence that they’ve started to roll once De’Andre Hunter and Onyeka Okungwu have come around.
On paper, this Hawks team — constructed nearly exactly as it was last season — should have the juice to shock the world in the playoffs again. Can GM Travis Schlenk trust them to do it, or will he return on his concerns?
Question of the day:
If you could have them on your team for the next seven seasons, who would you choose: Cade Cunningham or Evan Mobley? We’re on Substack now, so you can leave a comment by clicking this button right here: