D'Angelo Russell And Emmanuel Mudiay: A Comparison
By Ray Boyd
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Sixers need guards. Even the most generous talent expert would have a hard time giving a solid grade to the current crop of Sixers guards. The most immediate opportunity to address that need is the upcoming draft.
The two best guards in the draft are D'Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay. If all goes according to the will of the experts, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor will go first and second overall and the Sixers and Knicks will choose between Russell and Mudiay.
While both guards will fill a hole for the Sixers, they are both incredibly different players. Both have tremendous upside, but one is a better fit.
The one who fits the Sixers mold is Russell. The Ohio State product would address the Sixers need for a primary ball-handler and also double as their best 3-pt shooting threat after shooting north of 40 percent from beyond the arc in college.
Russell also possesses great size for an NBA point guard at 6'5" and yes, he's a point guard. Clearly he possesses the ability to be a combo guard, but his ball-handling and court vision lend him to being a point guard at the NBA level that will also excel at scoring.
Think Stephen Curry. It is way too early to say Russell has MVP potential, but no one saw that coming from Curry either after being the 7th overall pick in the draft because people saw him as merely a shooter with no defined position.
Maybe players like Russell and Curry aren't point guards or shooting guards. They are just guards. Put the ball in their hands and let them play. It is a plus when a player excels at scoring and facilitating and Russell can do both.
Mudiay puts the ball in the basket too, but he does so in very different ways. He has the build to be really good. He's the same height as Russell and about 20 pounds bigger.
If Russell is Curry, Mudiay is Russell Westbrook.
He is a ball of pure energy. The major difference is Mudiay can not shoot. He is not a consistent threat to knock down a shot beyond the arc and he is a bad free throw shooter.
Mudiay excels by getting to the basket and finishing through contact. He often finishes, but there is always the opportunity for defenders to lessen his impact by putting him on the line.
Where Mudiay has the edge is athleticism. He is clearly the stronger, quicker player.
Russell is a really good ball-handler that gets his defender off balance by using his dribble and then blows past. The issue is that when his defender is on balance, Russell rarely gets by and often settles for his jump shot.
Mudiay rarely has that problem with his speed and is ideal for running the break.
Both players can very well be All-Stars in the NBA and play for a very long time. The Sixers could be in good shape with a point guard like Mudiay, but there is a very specific reason why Russell is a better fit.
In fact, there are two reasons: Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid.
If the Sixers want to give that twin tower combination a real chance to work together, Russell is the guy and no, it's not because he knows both Noel and Embiid already.
Russell can space the floor and is the most creative passer in the draft. Embiid is going to need room to work in the lane and Noel is going to have to excel at working the baseline and finishing off lob passes.
Russell is the better compliment to that as Mudiay needs the lane to be effective on offense. It will be tough to run a cohesive offense with three lane dominant players while you still have sub-par outside shooting.
The development of the post talent acquired by the Sixers would be nurtured by Russell and perhaps hampered a bit by Mudiay.
In a situation like this, it is hard to compare the two statistically. They faced very different competition as Mudiay opted to play a season in China, but for those of you who need numbers...
Games Played: Mudiay (12) Russell (35)
Points/Game: Mudiay (18.0) Russell (19.3)
Assists/Game: Mudiay (5.9) Russell (5.0)
Rebounds/Game: Mudiay (6.3) Russell (5.7)
Turnovers/Game: Mudiay (3.3) Russell (2.9)
Steals: Mudiay (1.58) Russell (1.6)
FG%: Mudiay (47.8) Russell (44.9)
3FG%: Mudiay (34.2) Russell (41.1)
FT%: Mudiay (57.4) Russell (75.6)
