Remember the last two seasons it was the “did the Rockets screw up by not taking Evan Mobley” game? It doesn’t matter that Mobley didn’t work out for the Rockets, or that the Rockets didn’t have the guard talent to allow Mobley to thrive. If Mobley had a good game or Jalen Green had a bad one, that was PROOF that Rafael Stone failed.
We always think the best choices will be the ones that compete. Cade Cunningham vs. Green. Mobley vs. Scottie Barnes. Jalen Suggs vs. Josh Giddey.
Except a funny thing happened. The best player of 2021 NBA Draft was not taken in the first 3 picks. Or the top 10. He lasted to 16. And the team famous for its draft evaluation genius traded that pick to a new general manager trying to prove himself.
Of course, Alperen Sengun will not play tonight. Neither does Evan Mobley, who is recovering from an ankle injury himself. The Cavs sit in third place in the Eastern Conference, trailing just one in the win column from the Milwaukee Bucks. That’s a testament to JB Bickerstaff, who finally appears to have a head coaching job after two interim stints (one with Houston and another with Memphis that turned into a full-time job for just one season).
Trick
4:00 p.m. CT
How to watch
Space City domestic network
Injury report
Rockets
Alperen Sengun-OUT (ankle, knee)
Cam Whitmore-OUT (knee)
Riders
Dean Wade-GTD
Max Strus-GTD
Evan Mobley-OUT
The line (from this article)
Looking to the future because we can
Tuesday night in DC against the Wizards
