Just a little tidbit on the Rockets draft preparations. Orlando Pre-Draft Camp The NBA Pre-Draft camp kicks off this Tuesday evening at 6 PM at the World Wide of Sports Complex outside of Orlando. We’ve gone into detail on a few occasions (especially HERE and HERE) to explain why this year’s camp is unique compared with years past. For four days (May 29th-June 1st), 64 draft prospects will conduct drills and play 5 on 5 games in front of the watchful eyes of hundreds of NBA executives. They (along with an additional 11 of the top prospects in this draft) will go through a physical, conduct Anthropometric/strength testing, have their blood and urine tested, participate in the combine, and conduct a meeting with the NBA Player’s Association, which will lead them into the 4th of June. Once the 75 players are finished with their NBA Pre-Draft Camp obligations, they will be free to work out for teams beginning on the 5th of June. Some creative teams—like the Houston Rockets for example—are scheduling private workouts in Orlando on the 5th of June, in conjunction with other NBA teams that will be allowed to watch as well. This will give the Rockets a chance to bring in players (like Jason Smith for example, who is already scheduled), that they otherwise would not have to opportunity to work out. This also reduces the grind on the players, since they can kill multiple birds with one stone, rather than needing to fly around the country working out for one team at a time. For an underclassman like Smith who has to pay for all his NBA workout expenses on his own, that is absolutely huge. EDIT: Okay so now I am thinking I should have put this in the NBA draft section. Please move in necessary. Also if anyone can shed some light on this Jason Smith kid. I have never seen him play and I am curious on others opinions.
Best Case: Troy Murphy Worst Case: Angelo Gigli Weekly NCAA Performers, 1/17/07, Part One January 17, 2007 Skilled Colorado State 7-footer Jason Smith is a hard prospect to catch, so games like last weekend’s against San Diego State are a special treat. It has been a while since this writer has taken in Smith, and it appears that his game hasn’t changed all that much in recent months, for better or worse. Against the Sun Devils, Smith displayed most of everything that has kept scouts in the gym at Colorado State games over the past two seasons. His turnaround jumper would be an impressive weapon for any post player, let alone a 7-footer with the impressive touch and frame of Smith. He can create his own shot from virtually anywhere inside the 3-point arc, and looks great doing it. Smith has an impressive feel for the game once he gets into his move, utilizing good body control and timing to finish plays around the basket. While he isn’t an overly impressive athlete at this stage, Smith does an adequate job on the boards and alters his fair share of shots. Unfortunately, several of the areas we had hoped to see development in remain issues. First of all, while Smith has a phenomenal frame for a skill-oriented 7-footer, he really needs add strength. He runs the court decently well, but struggles to get moving and doesn’t appear to handle physical defense very well. Smith has the potential to develop his body to the point where he is an above-average athlete in the NBA, but it would be nice to see a bit more improvement over the past two offseasons. Furthermore, while Smith puts up excellent all-around numbers, he probably doesn’t impact the game as much as he could. Part of this is the sub-par team he plays for, but Smith generally scores his points in short spurts. He rarely makes the blue-collar play, and routinely gets himself into foul trouble. This makes it hard to shed any light on Jason Smith’s status as a 2007 draft prospect at the moment. The 7-footer still has quite a bit of developing to do, so it is easy to see him sticking around another year considering how many big men could make the jump this spring. At the same time, how much more can Smith do to improve his stock playing for Colorado State? At some point, either Smith as an individual or the Rams as a team must get to that next level, and it should be interesting to see what he can do to push his stock to the point where testing the waters would be a worthwhile venture. http://www.draftexpress.com/viewprofile.php?p=369 Troy Murphy isnt a very good ceiling since he plays horrible defense and is softer then butter. But this guy is a 7 footer which gives him an automatic advantage on most nights. Seems like this guy could be a realistic PF of the future for the rockets, his range would be a perfect fit with yao along with being a 7 footer capable of having 10 rebs a night. He is projected to be around the 16th pick. Would giving up luther to move up be acceptaple?
I doubt there is any significance to his name being mentioned. He just happens to be ONE of the guys that will be there. I wouldn't read much into that.
*Sigh* If we are going to draft a PF, he must be athletic/shot blocking type PF that can crash the boards, take the opponents best big man, and hit an occasional jumpshot. Jason Smith is not that person. It's not hard to see what Yao needs next to him and I don't why they are seriously considering Jason Smith.
See, this is why the GARM just irks the HELL out of me sometimes. No one said they were seriously considering this particular player. All they said was that the Rockets, because they are in Orlando for the pre-draft camp, will be able to look at players LIKE him who are already in town. That's playerS plural. Why do you guys take everything so literally? It's like if the words Bibby and Rockets appear in the same section of the newspaper in separate stories, everyone in here is like, "Bibby's going to take less money to play in Houston."
See Jeff's post. It's called doing homework. (Edit: I was referring to his first one...) The Rockets will look at well over 100 prospects, and probably doing private works with over 30, maybe closer to 50 or more of them. No team really targets a player this early, especially not one picking as deep as we are in the first round. Even if you want to take Jason Smith literally, there's really 2 ways to look at it: 1. A mid-first round talent on the mock drafts almost always slides to the end. The Rockets want to have done their homework if Jason Smith is the guy that slides. 2. The Rockets are mulling trading up/getting an additional 1st rounder and want to know what the talent is like in that range. Getting to know the draft field is always the right move no matter how you look at it. And besides, as I mentioned in the Adelman draft thread, he's been the coach while 3 Smiths have been drafted, and there was one at each stop. Jason's the only draftworthy one available.
this doesn't sound like we are targeting this guy. this sounds like the rockets are being smart and looking into the mid-first round incase anyone falls to them. he isn't the only guy they will conduct a private workout with. though he seems like an adleman type player, they may NOT like him after the workout!
those best case/worst case things mean nothing for example kwame brown NBA Comparison: Kevin Garnett Strengths: Like Garnett, KB has freakish athleticism. Already bulkier than Garnett and could turn into more of a Webber type post player. Very graceful running the floor. Tremendous leaping aility. Passes and handles extraordinarily well for a 6-11 player. May still be growing. Touch on shots is excellent, and should only improve. Post game is solid. Very good shot blocker.
he's a 7 foot version of yao ming. good jumpshot to about 18 feet, not overly athletic, but not a bumbling stumbling big man. decent rebounding skills, ok shotblocker, not very tough or physical.
i doubt the rockets are serious about him. he is one of about 30 players the rockets will probably look at in the draft. no reason to believe they are serious about any of them until they are done with private workouts.
The Rockets worked out Amare Stoudamire (and a slew of other guys) the same year they picked Yao and everyone knew they were going to pick Yao.
