Rocket’s Draft Preview Many intriguing prospects will become household names this summer once the NBA Draft comes along. College boys like Andrew Bogut and Chris Paul, preps-to-pros stars like Gerald Green and Martell Webster, and foreign success stories like Rudy Fernandez and Tiago Splitter gather in New York for arguably the biggest event of the NBA year. In Houston, the consensus is that we need to get younger, as we have the highest average age among NBA teams. (31.4 years old) As the draft approaches, Houston executives and scouts begin to look at all the players who could possibly don the Rockets' red this next season. There are a few different ways we could go in this year’s draft. We’re obviously set at C and the G/F position with Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Dikembe Mutumbo, who is expected to return for a 14th NBA season. We’ve got some good depth at SG, with David Wesley, Jon Barry, and Bobby Sura. Our biggest weaknesses are at the PG and PF positions. At PG, we’ve been limited to playing Sura, a SG for his career, and Mike James who’s been labeled as a SG in a PG body many times in his career. We’ve also had failed experiments in Brandin Knight, Rod Strickland, and Andre Barrett, who was last seen playing for the Orlando Magic. At PF, we have Juwan Howard, a forward known for his offense. Howard is not recognized for his interior defense or shot-blocking, something Coach Van Gundy has looked for next to Yao. Behind him, Scott Padgett and Clarence Weatherspoon have been in and out of the rotation, Padgett being mostly a shooter, and Weatherspoon picking up mostly garbage minutes. Let’s take a look at some of the prospective draftees that could/should be available at the #24 spot: Jarrett Jack GEORGIA TECH | JUNIOR | PG HEIGHT: 6-3 | WEIGHT: 200 | AGE: 21 Jack is a pure PG. He’s a smart player who always looks for the open man. He’s got an NBA ready body, quick hands, and is very agile. At first, many thought he would go mid-first round, but most teams in the 12-22 spots have shown little interest in Jack. If he should drop to 24, we shouldn’t hesitate to draft him. Rudy Fernandez SPAIN | PG/SG HEIGHT: 6-5 | WEIGHT: 200 | AGE: 20 At a young age, he already earned good minutes on the Spanish national team. He’s got a very good shooting stroke, good athleticism, and good size for his position. Though he played SG/SF for the Spanish national team, he’s shown all the skills necessary to play PG in the NBA. He’s got amazing court awareness, he takes good care of the ball, and always puts the team first. Tiago Splitter BRAZIL | PF HEIGHT: 6-10 | WEIGHT: 240 | AGE: 20 Has a great offensive game. He’s a great shooter, has good low-post moves, and is good going 1-on-1. He will need to add some muscle to play down low with the NBA’s big men, but has shown the determination to play with the best. Sean May NORTH CAROLINA | JUNIOR | POWER FORWARD HEIGHT: 6-9 | WEIGHT: 260 | AGE: 21 He has excellent touch, strength, and footwork that allowed him to out muscle and maneuver around anyone on the college level. His soft hands allow him to catch almost everything thrown his way and make him an extraordinary rebounder and finisher. He’s a very good passer and has a knack for finding an open man. He could also develop into a good shot-blocker. Most experts believe he will go late-lottery or mid-first round, but a few believe he could slip. Also don’t be surprised if Houston attempts to trade up and selects May. Julius Hodge NORTH CAROLINA ST | SENIOR | PG/SG/SF HEIGHT: 6-7 | WEIGHT: 205 | AGE: 21 He has great ball handling skills for a 6’7” kid. He sees the floor, is unselfish and plays with a lot of heart. He's a stellar rebounder for a guard and is fearless despite his wiry frame. He’s got the versatility to play both backcourt positions and the small forward spot. He’s not the best shooter, but his shot should develop with time. Even though our record put us down to the end of the first round, there’s always hidden talent waiting to be unveiled. It’s our job to find these treasures. http://rockets.realgm.com/articles/60/20050529/rockets_draft_preview/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another take on who we can take at 24 or if we move up. Not anyone we haven't speculated about before. I personally am torn between Splitter, May, or Hodge. Do we go for size or do we fill it through free agency? Many questions to answer but I have confidence the front office will make the correct decisions.
oooh may along side with yao? hmmm, i dunno how i feel about that. it could be really good...or not. i wish the draft would just hurry up and come.
I kind of like the idea of starting Sura, HODGE, and T-Mac at pg, sg, and sf respectively. That would give us 3 guys that can bring the ball up and set up the offense. They also all have multi-dimentional games and better-than-average size. PS- I haven't heard a lot about this but I think we also need a backup 3. As much as I love his heart, we can't play Bowen more than 10 minutes and T-mac needs to rest sometime. Anyone agree?
You forgot to mention that he'll probably be a slow white guy that shoots like a machine in practice, but can't throw in the ocean in a real game.
As long as we don't draft a foreign player from iceland who we saw on tape and fell in love with. Or a skinny player who has possible upside playing in the sahara desert league. Or we trade down and get a #2 pick who we use to select a decent 5th year senior only to trade it for a slow spot up shooter Padget clone who played for the Citadel.
They've got 2 players I like up there although I don't see taking Hodge in the first round. Jack in my opinion would be a very good pick. I'd take him over every PG in this draft except Deron and CP. I'd really like to see us find a way to pull Jack and Turiaf out of this draft.
Sura needs come off the bench. I think he is just a little to careless with the ball when the pressure is turned up. And he can't create his own shot.
We shouldn't draft for need, but the best player available, regardless of position, since that person won't help us that much initially.
Agreed Sherlock. Anytime you draft for need, especially late in the 1st round, you're risking blowing your draft. Best player available.
