Draft Day Acquisitions

Don't agree with all your points, but you are on the right track. Morey can make a draft day acquisition and still have enough assets to go after a high caliber FA. On to some of your points:

1. Never been a fan of Jefferson. He puts up numbers but doesn't really put up wins. Plus, I think to acquire Big Al we would have to trade Martin which in my opinion is a lateral move.

2. I have always been a fan of Iggy, but I'm not sure how he would fit on this team or rather if he makes the team a contender for the money he is making.

3. Charlie Villanueva His contract is ridiculous. Anthony Randolph is still young(maybe even younger than some draft picks this year) so I don't see him being cheap

 

If Minny drafts Favors what happens to Kevin Love?

I see no PF being drafted by the Wolves.

 

Since NJ already has Lopez at center, Minny is probably hoping Cousins falls to them. That would give them a legitimate center and a good PF rotation. In that scenario I don't think Minny should trade Big Al.

 

Here's my take on what I think Morey would do:

Last year when we discovered Morey was trying to get one of the top guards (Evans-Curry-Rubio-Jennings), he made it clear that he wasn't content by the idea of having Brooks as a full-time starter. Don't ask me why, but that's probably just how it is.
I remember just before last years draft he was on the radio talking about how high he valued Rubio.

Now I think that once again, he's going to try and go after Ricky.

First, lets take a look at the first 3 picks and see what we could eventually nab out of them:

1. Washington - John Wall (this means: Arenas could be on his way out. Do we want him? No)

2. Philly - Evan Turner (this means: Like stated above this makes Iggy available and the Sixers will let him go more easily this summer, however, we got the guy we were targeting since the beginning -- Kevin Martin -- and we aren't interested anymore. HOWEVER, don't be surprised if the Sixers trade the pick. Either to trade down or out, if they see that they don't have a shot to trade Iggy for something valuable, they will trade the #2 for a ishload of other assets).

3. Nets - Derrick Favors (this means: The Nets won't be selling anyone in particular, their owner has said he viewed Favors as a 4 and Cousins as a 4/5. Depending on how the workouts go they will pick him. HOWEVER, the Nets owner has a goal to be in the playoffs next year and contend immediately. Favors is a project and probably won't make an impact right away. THIS MEANS that we might be able to trade some proven players to the Nets in exchange for the pick. They wanted Wall, how about Brooks+?).

4. Minnesota - ??? (Now this is where the cheese is at. David Khan made assumptions that he had enough of young players, and wanted them to grow and start making some noise. Furthermore, he IS NOT sold on Cousins at all, infact they really wanted a top 3 pick to get either Wall-Turner-Favors. So unless they are hearing Favors will slip to them, I think they will either trade out or trade back in the draft. I doubt they will take Johnson because both him and Brewer have a hard time of creating their own shot.
As for Al Jefferson, I like him as a player but doubt he would fit. Minny is to me the most likely trading partner. I think that we could grab Rubio + 4th pick at a reasonnable price. We would have to give up a proven player (maybe Brooks) + 14th + Hill (the PF they desperately want in Favors) + another piece (probably Knicks pick or future Rockets pick)).
FYI, Minny also has the 16th selection and another late first round pick, which they could probably trade aswell.

Morey has shown in the past that once he targets someone, he's not going to stop until he somehow gets that player. He's also shown that he's very creative in finding ways to gets the deals done (Artest deal, Kevin Martin deal, etc) so i'm not sure it will be so easy to predict. One thing is certain though: He wants Rubio and he wants a top 4 pick.

Another notable thing to finish this off is the possible slip of Ed Davis. This is a man whom no-one has been talking about, and with the draft order he is most likely to slip in the 9-12 range. IMO he has as much talent as Favors, so if we could get him somehow he'd be a great addition further down the road.

 

I think what people are ignoring is that he wanted Rubio when there was no guarantees that Brooks + Lowry could handle the PG position for an entire season. I think Brooks has proven himself, so if the Rockets trade I hope they get back more than a 4th pick and an unproven rookie PG (at the NBA level) that will not be coming over until the 2012-2013 season.

 

This draft is an amusing one. The lottery is so cluttered with all these talented Bigs that some really good wing scorers are going to get pushed to the middle to late 1st round. Evan Turner is probably the only legit "wing" who will go in the lottery range, and he's supposedly being touted as a Brandon Roy-type who will handle the ball a lot.

James Anderson out of OSU is a guy who could end up being a real gem. I like him a lot more than his Big 12 counterpart Xavier Henry. You read his http://draftexpress.com report and it screams "Morey pick".

If we have to ship out Chase for any reason, I wouldn't be surprised to see Morey find a way to get James Anderson in a Rockets uni.

 

Buy Gani Lawal in the early 2nd round please!

 

I love Al Jefferson, but I would never want him on my team as a C.

When he has to play out of position at center (most of the time) he does absolutely terrible on defense. I don't see how acquiring him would be anything but a lateral move at this point considering who we would have to give up to get him.

 

Anthony Randolph has a ton of ability Nellie hasn't used him right. That would be a great addition to the team.

 

If the rockets move up in the draft to get Cousins, I see us trading Budinger to get it done ... and if thats the case, I would be looking at Paul George as a possible acquisition from this draft to replace Chase Budinger...

--RB

 

or Paul George

 

Wouldn't that be kinda of a sideways move.

 

Very intriguing. It goes against the Win Now idea, though. It will take a year, maybe more, I think, for Rubio to become better than Brooks in the NBA game. Also, while the #4 pick should yield a player a step above Hill, we're losing, let's say, 8 months experience there. I would have said a year, except that Hill spent most of it on NY's bench.

I think it would be a sideways as far as the upcoming season goes, though I don't know that I could walk away from that deal.

 

I think there should be a ban on any ideas involving Rubio. I'm not saying it won't happen or Morey isn't interested.

He might be.

But, we have very little definitive knowledge of if Morey is interested, and even less knowledge that he is as interested as many make him out to be. Moreover, as I understand it, Rubio does now have a large buyout that could (key word, could) prevent him from joining any team next year or even the following. And finally, there is as likely a chance that Rubio is either a role player or back to Europe player as there is that he will even be as useful a player as Brooks, much less better.

For all of those reasons, I cringe everytime I even see a trade proposal involving Rubio.

Would it be nice to get the 4th pick AND Rubio for some package that makes sense? Sure, but not for Brooks and the 14th and Hill and the Knicks pick. That's way too many assets to give up and a backwards move.

Anyways, I think you guys have narrowed in on the T-Wolves and potentially Sixers as trade targets. I'm not convinced the Sixers will be as desperate to move Iggy - couldn't Turner and Iggy play together? Though I am sure they are still looking to move Dalembert.

I highly doubt the Sixers would do this, but, if Les was willing, would anyone trade Battier, David Andersen, Chase and the 14th pick for Dalembert + 2nd pick. Again, I doubt the Sixers would do it, but you never know...

 

The Sixers would do it in a heartbeat...Why would the Rockets give up Battier, Chase, and the 14th for an overpaid backup center? That's a terrible move for the Rockets. We can get a Dalembert quality player through the draft with the 14th pick. Heck we might even trade back.

 

No because we get the back-up center that we wanted and a replacement for Chase at 14.

 

That type of deal would be done solely to get the #2 pick, not so much as for Dalembert. Anyway we would be getting the back-up center who is capable of leading a team if necessary, plus a high draft pick who will help us in the immediate future.

 

I failed at reading. I read 2nd round pick. That changes alot.