Emmanuel Mudiay
Position: G
Height/Weight: 6-5/193
China via Dallas, Tx.
Emmanuel Mudiay was one of the most-hyped amateur point guards a year ago. He’s from Congo and went to high school in Texas. He was supposed to play for Larry Brown at SMU. That didn’t work out. Instead, he turned pro and went to China.
Mudiay’s time abroad featured mixed results. After nine games, Mudiay hurt his ankle. When he healed and returned, he was stuck on the bench for a while until he got some run in the playoffs.
Eighth-grade geography and Google maps will tell you that China is far. Not a lot of people have seen Mudiay play outside of YouTube videos -- with the notable exception of Sam Hinkie. He was reportedly the only NBA general manager to make the flight to China to see Mudiay in person. (And some crazy anti-analytics truthers still think Hinkie doesn’t watch basketball. If only they had listened to Daryl Morey.) The point here is that not a lot of people have first-hand knowledge of Mudiay’s game. There are a lot of unknowns about him.
Strengths
Like Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor, Mudiay skipped the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. That would have provided an opportunity to confirm what people tend to trumpet about Mudiay: his size and athleticism.
The last time Mudiay was measured -- at the 2014 Nike Hoop Summit -- he was listed at 6-5, 200 pounds. For a kid who just turned 19 in March, that’s good size. According to league sources, Mudiay is regarded as fast and strong, the kind of player who can accelerate past opponents with the ball in his hands. His length should also make him a good defender (provided the effort at that end of the floor is there), and he supposedly has good instincts as a point guard. He also projects as a good rebounder, and he’s strong and tall enough that he should give smaller guards match-up problems at times.
Again, all this is largely second-hand. Mudiay was much talked about at the combine, though everyone I spoke with was basing his opinion off footage or scouting reports and not in-person evaluations.
NBA
Weaknesses
If size and athleticism are the most commonly mentioned strengths when asking people about Mudiay, then turnovers and shooting are cited in equal measure as weaknesses. Part of the concern with Mudiay, according to league sources, is that one of his greatest skills -- he’s an absolute blur with the ball -- also sometimes contributes to his turnovers. He can make bad choices in terms of over-dribbling or suspect passes. Some of that might be owed to decision making, which is correctable provided Mudiay is receptive to coaching.
The other, bigger issue is shooting. The mechanics on his jumpshot are not well-regarded. One NBA front office executive questioned whether his form is fixable. His shot is reportedly inconsistent, and he often needs more space and time to unload than he probably should. The shot. That’s the thing with Mudiay that everyone seems to mention and worry about.
How he’d fit with the Sixers
Big. Good at getting to the rim. Good rebounder. Fast with the ball. Good length. Turns it over too much. Big-time questions on his shooting mechanics. That’s the abridged outline on Mudiay. Sounds a lot like a more athletic version of the guy the Sixers traded to Milwaukee, doesn’t it?
The Sixers need shooting. If they’re going to draft a guard, shouldn’t he be an outside threat? At the very least, the Sixers already have a poor-man’s approximation of Mudiay’s skill set in Tony Wroten. I’m not sure Mudiay makes sense for the Sixers, given what we know about how they want to play fast and take efficient shots (either by getting to the rim, getting to the line, or shooting threes). Then again, I didn’t go to China to see Mudiay play. Hinkie could very well have a different opinion of Mudiay and how he projects to the NBA.
NBA comparison
He’s been likened to John Wall. He’s also drawn comparisons with Jrue Holiday. But what if he’s just a stronger, faster version of MCW?
Draft Projection
Top five.