news

three years after entering the league, the 2021 draft has yet to be decided.

with two weeks left until the contract extension deadline, only four 2021 first-round picks have signed extensions that take effect next july. these four people - cade cunningham, evan mobley, scotty barnes and franz wagner - all signed max contract extensions (estimated at $225 million over five years).

we can expect more extensions to come as these contracts tend to be signed quickly before the season starts. last year, five signed extensions in july, two more in early october, and then seven more players signed extensions three days before the opener.

regardless of whether they've signed an extension or not, every key player in the 2021 draft still has a lot to prove. here are some stats and film on the top three draft picks and what they could look like this season.

1. cade cunningham - breakthrough with the ball still needs to be polished

key stat: cunningham ranked fourth in the league last season with 17.0 possessions per game.

the only players who averaged more drives with the ball per game - shai gilgeous-alexander, jalen brunson and luka doncic - all ended up in the top five in mvp voting. but compared to the 22-year-old cunningham, all three of them shot at a much higher percentage, made far fewer turnovers, and got to the free throw line more often.

overall, cunningham shot just 49.1% from the paint. that's an improvement from 48.2 percent in his previous two seasons, but ranks only 285th among 306 players with at least 100 attempts. and his assist-to-turnover ratio (1.27) ranked only 121st among the 195 players with at least 200 assists last season.

the pistons didn't space him particularly well, but he eked out some tough shots.

cunningham did show off the kind of footwork brunson and doncic often use once they get into the paint, where they can regain an advantage after their initial offensive route has been stopped.

a more controlled offense like this could help cunningham turn the ball over less and get to the free throw line more.

after finishing with the league's worst record for the second consecutive season, the pistons changed coaches again. they added some veterans and some young players who need to get better. but cunningham is still the most important player on the team, and the pistons need him to get more opportunities in all situations with the ball and the basket.

2. jaylen green-needs more offensive organization

key stat: green averaged just 1.42 potential assists per minute, third-worst among 78 players who logged at least 200 minutes last season.

the only players with a lower potential assists per minute average than green are brunson (1.40) and gente george (1.38). brunson's scoring efficiency is much higher than green's, and george is still a rookie.

as a team, the rockets rank 29th in the league in ball movement, averaging just 304 passes per 24 minutes. the clippers move less but have stars who can score in isolation and rank fourth on offense. the rockets do not have such talent and only rank 20th.

a large part of green's shots are step-back three-pointers when there is still plenty of shooting time. he may lack the patience to find better shots, and he won't make defenders pay for setting up a second defender in his space.

with 11 seconds left on the 24-second clock, a step-back two-pointer was thrown, and jaden mcdaniels was already away from fred vanvleet, just one shy of the latter. a pass.

it's clear that green can use his speed to break down defenses and create good shots for his teammates, and he doesn't need to be a steve nash or nikola jokic-like player or have a great court. view. he just needs to continue to recognize when extra defenders interfere with him to become a better player and inject energy into the rockets' offense as they try to end their four-year playoff drought.

green is the only player among the top four picks in the 2021 draft who did not sign a contract extension in july, but his teammate alperon shenjing (the no. 16 pick in 2021) also did not sign an extension before october. contract.

3. evan mobley – spread the floor and take long shots

key stat: without mobley, the cavaliers scored 7.0 points more per 100 possessions with jarrett allen on the court (117.3 points) than when both big men started at the same time (110.2 points).

mobley and allen are averaging 2.4 assists per 36 minutes against each other, up from 1.4 per 36 minutes last season. but when they're on the floor together, the cavaliers' offense is worse than league average.

of course, one of the issues is space. in fact, since mobley entered the league, the proportion of three-point attempts has declined every season, from 11.1% as a rookie to 10.8% in the 2022-23 season and then to 10.7% last season.

his long-range shooting last season wasn't bad (22-for-59, 37.3%). he just doesn't shoot enough, often rejecting open 3-point attempts in favor of tougher shots inside the arc.

even when catching and shooting, mobley's release speed is very slow. but if you put him at the five and surround him with shooters, mobley can become a fast and dynamic offensive hub.

is this his future, or can the cavaliers get two big men on the floor together? bickerstaff was gone and kenny atkinson was hired - a coaching change that gave them a chance to try again. their backcourt duo of darius garland and donovan mitchell has a similar problem, with the whole being less than the sum of its parts.

if they can turn that around in both the backcourt and frontcourt, the cavaliers are in for a big year.