Los Angeles Lakers: Should They Take Emmanuel Mudiay?

Don’t Get Caught Up In Emmanuel Mudiay’s Impressive Numbers In China

Emmanuel Mudiay was slated to play NCAA Basketball this season under the tutelage of legendary coach Larry Brown at Southern Methodist University. Then, he pulled a Brandon Jennings and went overseas to play professionally.

There are benefits to going off the beaten path when you are as highly touted as Mudiay. The opportunity to test your mettle against grown men can — at least in theory — prepare you for the NBA like college basketball simply can’t.

And the check doesn’t hurt, either.

The main “downside” to balking at playing for free in the collegiate ranks is exposure. Basketball fans have only YouTube clips and online scouting reports to go off of in regards to information on the point guard, but it seems as though few NBA teams even bothered to make an effort to watch Mudiay in China.

Per Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling, only five NBA teams saw him play overseas, with Sam Hinkie of the 76ers being the only GM to watch Mudiay in person. For what it’s worth, the Lakers were one of those five teams according to the article.

Emmanuel Mudiay played in only 12 games for the Guangdong Tigers of the CBA (due to an ankle injury), complicating matters when it comes to evaluating his progress as a prospect. His sample size is much smaller than that of Karl-Anthony Towns (39 NCAA games played) or even D’Angelo Russell (35 games).

Mudiay’s lack of tape hurts him — especially in competing at the top of a fairly talented draft. There’s only so much use in statistics when evaluating a player given the differences in the game from league-to-league. It doesn’t help that professional basketball in China is known to boast crazier stat lines than your NBA 2k MyPlayer.

If J.R. Smith putting up Wilt Chamberlain numbers didn’t do enough for you, here are three “mystery” player stat lines from the CBA in 2014-15:

The most impressive line in the group belongs to Player B. The real identity of this overseas-stud is Lester Hudson, a point guard who ended the 2014-15 season with the Los Angeles Clippers. For those who have already blocked with Clippers’ playoff run out of their memory, Hudson– who may have very well been glued to the bench — saw only garbage-time minutes in favor of the much-maligned Austin Rivers.

Players A and C have similar stat lines, with Player C holding an edge in rebounding while Player A is the better shooter. Player A is 38-year-old NBA castoff Stephon Marbury. Player C is the 19-year-old Emmanuel Mudiay.

The point isn’t meant to disparage Mudiay. Stepping into any profession and competing with the old-heads right away can be difficult, regardless of how talented you are or where you begin. His performance in China doesn’t mean much — and that’s the point.

CBA statistics are not indicative of talent or potential at the next level. Stats from a league in which Marbury — a career 43.3 percent shooter in the NBA — becomes as efficient from the field as 2010-11 LeBron James may not be the most credible source when it comes to evaluating a player’s NBA-worth.

Instead, we have to rely even more heavily on the little tape that is available.

So, how good does Emmanuel Mudiay’s skill set say he can be?

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