Assumptions 1) The rockets sign Mo. 2) The rockets sign Moochie. 3) The rockets don’t sign Anderson. 4) Cato, Walt, and Rogers aren’t traded. 5) The rockets have the 13th and 23rd picks in the draft. 6) Vancouver obligation isn’t settled, or whichever pick is sent to Vanc is returned by Detroit. 7) Hakeem resigns. 8) If Orlando sends a pick, the rocks take best available or try to move to the 11th or the 19th. In College, teams with good PGs, wing players, and shooters tend to do better than teams with a dominant post game. The rockets have the PGs (Francis and Moochie) and the shooters (Mo, Bull, Walt). Mobley’s okay in the passing lanes, but I want a f^%$& condor out there. I predict Rudy will go after two athletic wing players that will roam the passing lanes, instead of going after a shotblocker or a force down low. The rockets are a three-guard team and according to my assumptions there will only be three guards on the team. This draft is about making the rockets strengths stronger instead of addressing weaknesses at the 4 and 5. This draft will bring in players that will help Francis show off his gifts instead of make up for his shortcomings. FA can be used to lessen the weaknesses. As always, the players will be able to knock down free throws. Mo will be an ideal zone breaker at the 4. I personally favor Battier, Jefferson, and Morris. I see these guys as big SGs/SFs for the rockets. Wallace, if he declares, would fall in this group. I find this weird, but I haven’t seen enough of Forte to judge him despite NC always being on TV. I expect he is worthy of this group from what people say. I expect Richardson to be gone early and Battier will also be gone around 8, but he’s a maybe since some teams, it seems, look down on drafting battle tested seniors. Battier and Morris both can help around the basket to takeaway the post and can pull down some of Mo’s missing boards. I don’t like the zone. I hope Rudy makes a zone so potent that the NBA removes the zone and “man to man defenses with zone principles” which is a zone that bounces between legal and illegal under the old rules. I think these three players can move the rockets in this direction plus will fit into the offensive scheme better than Anderson do. I think the rockets are better equipped to deal with the zone than most people give them credit. All bets, if I was a betting man, are off if Rudy II slides to the 13th. I Believe! ------------------
I like the players you mention. Clutch's last-game post shows that Rudy likes'em, too. The ultimate fantasy would be to trade for Chicago's pick and draft Battier. He's smart, he's grown-up, he has size, he can play in the zone, and I don't think he'll take long to come into his own at the NBA level. He won't be a superstar, but he'll be a leader, a coach's dream. I hope Chicago would take multiple picks, Cato and Los for their pick, because that would be the only way to get Shane Battier. It would also open cap space. ------------------
Curry, Woods, and Chandlor will go before Bat because teams will want a big guy down low for Shotblocking in a zone. Griffin will probably go before Bat. If the rockets could get the #5, Bat should be there. At #7, one of Bat, Richardson, or Jefferson will be there. ------------------
