2021 NBA Mock Draft 4.0: Detroit Pistons land the draft’s biggest prize

The Houston Rockets have to be disappointed at missing out on the top pick but they were only jumped by a single team and, most importantly, they avoided dropping to the No. 5 slot and having to send this pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Adding Cade Cunningham would be fantastic but Evan Mobley is a pretty decent consolation prize.

Mobley is a big man with great size (7-feet), skill and athletic tools who also has the potential to be a two-way star. On offense, he’s an elite finisher around the basket with the fluidity and handle to face-up and attack from well outside the paint, creating his own shot. He has a very reliable mid-range jumper making him a pick-and-pop threat. He’s not a 3-point shooter at this point — just 12-of-40 (30 percent) as a freshman — but he certainly looks like someone who could become an outside threat. On defense is where his upside really comes together, with special shot-blocking instincts and the ability to be highly disruptive in space. Questions for him will be about his lack of strength and how quickly he can extend his shooting range but his upside is tremendous.