I think the problem with Mudiay was that his athleticism was overrated from the jump. Before all else I think thats what it comes down to because that was considered his best quality as a draft prospect.
He never had an offensive game but I mean his nbadraft.net scouting report has him compared to ******* John Wall. People just figured that he was a big pass first PG who was a menace on defense and that he would be in this elite class of PGs athletically, and then maybe his jumper would come around with time.
And Mudiay is athletic, especially for a guy with his size/strength, but he's just not athletic enough to rely on it the way Westbrook or Wall or early DRose and others are. He isn't quick enough to beat defenders, penetrate the paint, and draw in help defenders - especially when they have 0 respect for his jumper. He also has had a ton of trouble finishing around the basket, which I don't remember being a concern about him coming into the League. I think once people figured that out, he lost what was considered to be his best skill-set when he came into the League, the one that made him such a highly regarded prospect, and now he's just mediocre.
I remember leading up to the 2015 draft there being some very late rumblings from scouts that his "freak" athleticism was a bit overhyped, but it was too little too late. He was already a projected top 5 pick at the time. Just an example of a guy who dominated in HS due to his raw physicality and there just wasn't enough tape on him available after that to evaluate him as well as some other prospects. China is played a lot differently and is much weaker competitively than the top Euro leagues and I remember that he was injured for a large chunk of the Chinese season as well.
I mean if you look at some of the Draft scouting reports on him, some of his major weaknesses 3 years into the League like getting to the paint, finishing in the paint, and running the transition offense, were regarded as some of his greatest strengths.
Luckily we didn't take the gamble on draft night. I still think it was a good gamble for wack *** McDermott, but it would be another story if it cost us Porzingis. We would be in SHAMBLES right now if we had drafted him.
