I'm fairly new at this, so ya'all help me. Prior to the draft, everyone was saying that the Rockets wanted Stromile Swift, Mike Miller, or Darius Miles and needed to move up to get one of them. They were unable to move up; that is well-documented. Post-draft, all the commentary has to do with disgruntled observations that the Rockets always go after 4 year collegiate players (thus Collins and Langhi). Given that that seems to be true, who do you think the Rockets were really angling for and how had they hoped to pull it off? Logically, it seems they were after Kenyon or Fizer. Kenyon is now unattainable but Fizer may be available. Chicago may want O'Neal for Fizer; can or should we compete by offering whatever it takes within reason? Whom do you think we were really after among those top 6 picks and do you think we are still hunting for one of them? Or were the Rockets really prepared to tab an underclassman for the first time in a long time. Remember Rudy White? ------------------ There are 3 kinds of people: those who can count and those who can't.
It was pretty obvious that, even though Rudy liked Kenyon Martinand Swift, the guy he REALLY wanted was Demarr Johnson. In fact, he probably would have picked Demarr over Chris Mihm and was hoping Demarr would slip to 9. But when Orlando picked Miller, that meant ATL would pick Demarr. The Rockets probably tried to trade up, but it was really hard to trade up in this draft.The real question was why did they trade down to 15 instead of maybe 20 to pick Collier. They probably would have gotten something better in return and still gotten there man. ------------------ "There are two rules for success... 1) Never tell everything you know."
Probably, considering this draft was based on potential, not on weather or not a player proved themselves in College/HS ------------------ "There are two rules for success... 1) Never tell everything you know."
SuperS32: The trade between the Rocks and the Bucks happened before we picked. There Rockets were probably thinking/hoping they would get somebody like Etan Thomas there, but when Thomas was picked, they had to tell Miluakee to pick somebody else(Collier.) I really don't think they had Collier as a first option when they traded down. ------------------ "Play that funky music white boy." Six West
According to Carrol Dawson, trading up was possible but it required the Rockets to take on players from the other team who were salary cap blunders along with the higher pick. He said taking cap hits for other teams mistakes wasn't the right way to rebuild and they would do it the right way. ------------------
But DerMarr is another talented underclassmen. Is this the year that the Rockets were going to break the string of drafting only experienced guys? ------------------ There are 3 kinds of people: those who can count and those who can't.
SuperS32 got it right. DerMarr Johnson all the way. Mobile, multiple-positions, decent ball handler, difficult defensive matchup, had a great workout here. Very high upside potential. Just a great fit. Mike Miller was probably 2nd choice. They may have gambled on Mihm. Maybe converted him to a Duncan-style PF (I used this phrase for description only - spare the hate mail). ------------------ GATER
