we have never doubled down on the draft; we've always prioritized trade or free agency. he finds great value with late picks but he also trades away a lot of them (which you left out).
China is in the same group as USA in Olympics. We shall see Zhou's performance in real competition pretty soon.
Very good to know! The olympics are always fun to watch though even without a player on the table. I'm really hoping for a good showing by Mexico. I liked how they've looked recently.
I was expecting/hoping those 2nd round picks and one of the bums on the roster to be traded for a mid-late first. Our GM said it should be easy to move up. Instead we got non shooters who wont help for maybe 2-3 years instead of someone who could shoot a d help us in 1 year. But since they made the playoffs, we're automatically getting a top FA. Thats what Clutchfans and Dreamshake posters tell us.
Second round picks are crapshoots. Usually maybe 1 out of 10 second round picks even stick in the NBA after a couple of years. I have no problem with Rockets picking a couple of high potential players in the second round. Both of these guys have first round talent and maybe even lottery potential. For immediate help we are much better off looking at FA.
Should anyone be concerned that other than Capela (and to a minimal degree, Harrell) none of these players contributed last season?
Kind of like how Jones and DMo competed for the PF minutes? Our center position looks very much like our PF position three years ago. Three inexperienced good potential guys (two of them going in and out of the Dleague) trying to make it into the rotation.
2nd round picks are part of the draft your post made no sense. He doesn't have an "entire strategy", there are multiple parts of strategy coaching, FA, trades and draft Morey and our FO are trying to explore all options. The draft afaik we got two guys who are on opposite ends of the spectrum, Chinanu is one of the more NBA-ready prospects in the draft, although only 19 years old he already has a developed body so he should contribute immediately in the same Harrel did last year, basically spot duty as a backup. Zhou is more of a mid-term prospect, he has a buy out that only becomes reasonable next year so he'll probably sit this season out and only be available next year at the earliest. Regardless he's not ready because he needs to add some muscle on his frame, right now he'll get destroyed if he steps onto an NBA court. I understand you're frustrated but the Rockets actually went through an entire cycle already, they tried to compete with HnH and it didn't work. Now we'll see if they can reload this summer or wait till next year, which is when so many stars enter FA. At least the Rox still have a franchise player on the books look at Celts they had 8 picks and blew it all. Rather than be frustrated why don't you think of what the FO could've done, I mean should they have predicted that Ty Lawson would suck so badly or Harden would mess up his training camp and enter the season so out of shape? Sometimes reality just blindsides you if anybody says they saw it coming I'd say they're lying.
How are we supposed to double down in the draft given we can't tank per the owner? You want to build our team with late lottery picks and 2nd rounders?
Nah. Consider how folks would be looking at Morey if TJones and DMo (whose rights were acquired) didn't have injuries, we have done alright.
Morey believes, rightly or wrongly (I think rightly), that his peers overvalue first round picks. If you got something to sell and you think you're selling it for a higher price than it is worth, then sell it! If the trade market/draft market/consumer market changed, he probably would as well. Early 2nd round picks have high value but are perceived lower, which is why Morey tries to trade for them.
i dunno they look like good picks. they were the best mock draft centers int he 2nd round after stone. on paper they would fit this team better than stone. chinanu being a traditional center and zhou a versatile big with a huge size advantage. saved a ton of cap space on the center position.