4 Reasons Sixers Fans Should Yearn For Emmanuel Mudiay
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- Last year, I hitched my proverbial Sixers draft wagon to Andrew Wiggins and naturally Sam Hinkie crushed my dreams (I'm coped with Joel Embiid, and some, however).
This year, I'm hitching my proverbial Sixers draft wagon to Emmanuel Mudiay. With the NBA Draft Lottery just six days away, here's why.
4. He said no to Larry Brown
Wouldn't there just be some sort of beautiful poetry in Mudiay saying no to Brown and then coming to Philly and winning a championship with the Sixers, something Brown couldn't do?
Mudiay was the top ranked point-guard in the country from Grace Preparatory Academy in Arlington, Texas. He committed to play for Brown at SMU, but realized the best decision for him and his family was that he earned some money by playing ball internationally.
"And after sitting down with Coach Brown and my family," Mudiay said a 2014 interview, "We decided that the best way for me to provide for my mom was to forgo college and pursue professional basketball opportunities.
Mudiay chose to play in the Chinese Basketball League last year.
In an interview with Scout.com, Mudiay said playing in China "gave me a better challenge than college would have given me."
"Will Bynum, Jeff Adrien, Stephon Marbury, Al Harrington, Willie Warren, all of the players I was playing against told me what to expect in the league," Mudiay said in the interview. "They've been there and played there. I played against a lot of NBA players and it got the best out of me."
3. Basketball IQ, Intangibles, Personality
According to NBA shooting coach and consultant David Nurse, Mudiay has the intangibles to be an NBA star. In Nurse's must read Mudiay article for HoopsHype.com, he talks about the 'LeBron James Factor.'
"What I call the 'LeBron James Factor.' In no way am I comparing him to LBJ, but don't sleep on Mudiay and his basketball savvy," Nurse wrote. "You might not think his choice to bolt to China was smart, but on court, he's as smart as you will find in a young, high potential-packed point guard."
As for Mudiay's personality off-the-court?
"One would think as an 18 year old in China with deep pockets, extra down time, and all the foreign media attention on him, there would be a few stories here and there popping up of Mudiay run-ins with the law, extravagant parties, or even just late nights out in the city," Nurse explained. "Nope, none. I asked numerous knowledgeable trusted sources in China to find any interesting behind-the-scenes story that they could provide on Mudiay, but to no avail. Clean as a whistle."
2. He's an analytics guy!
Oh my God, Hinkie must love this kid!
Here is Lukas Peng, a scout in China on Mudiay via Nurse's article.
"It's very rare in China to see someone consciously look for highly-efficient analytical offensive situations – corner three-point shooters, rim attacks and dives, and even finding the open man in their best scoring position in transition like Mudiay does."
He's a streaky shooter, not a great shooter, but he knows that. And he works hard and wants to improve that.
And he has nice form, if that's worth anything.
1. His game
A 19-year-old 6'5", 200-pound point guard with a 6'9" wingspan and elite explosiveness like John Wall, Tyreke Evans, and Russell Westbrook. Mudiay's only real weakness is his streaky shooting, but admittedly (a la Derrick Rose, LeBron James, and the aforementioned Evans, Wall, and Westbrook), his game is based on power, athleticism, slashing, creating, driving, dishing, and finishing at the rim.
Daniel O'Brien of Bleacher Report, says Mudiay's "ceiling could ultimately be higher than anyone else's in this draft."
