I agree! If we had the #5 pick in 09 and Thabeet fell to us, everybody woulda thought Xmas came early! LOL
Another thing to consider. With Lowry being 25 years old... so in a rebuild we probably would try to keep him. How bad do people think this team is going to be getting rid of Martin and Scola? Obviously that's not a playoff team, but we would basically be on par with teams like the Jazz, Kings, Suns (depending on how well Nash is), Detroit, Washington, maybe New Jersey (without Lopez I think our young guys might be better). And without Scola and Martin our team is full of guys playing for their next contracts so they aren't going to just suck on purpose. If we're just the 3rd worst team in the league, it's like sure... it's possible we hit the lottery, but it's just as possible that we end up with the #5 pick. How good do you think that pick is going to be? Again, it could be a great pick, but it could also be crap. And every year we don't hit a top 3 pick, or every year our picks are Al Hortfords instead of Derrick Roses... that's a year we wasted in a rebuild.
Yes the draft is a gamble and it's not quick and easy but picking in the teens is even harder to find that franchise player.
Yes, but the idea is that with an above .500 team, cap room and a bunch of guys worth more than their contracts... the next time a franchise player wants to be traded, we should be on the top of their list. Our window is basically this year though. If we miss the playoffs again and next year rolls around without a major move... the argument for tanking will be stronger.
I don't think a FA has those things on the top of their list. They want to play with X (usually another max player) so that they can be on a contender and not have to carry the full load of the team for 82 games + post. Name the last FA that wanted to be on the Rockets? Tracy. Why? Yao. Before that? Pippen. Why? Hakeem & Barkley. Before that? Barkley. Why? Hakeem & Clyde. I like Martin and I love Scola and Lowry is great but these aren't players that make the Howards, Boshs, Lebrons, Carmelos, Pauls etc say yes to Houston. And to me, it's worse if we make the playoffs. It gives the FO false hope that this ship has turned around and yet we lose the pick in a deep draft for a trade that doesn't appear to be working as planned. And then I see us in the 2013 lotto or maybe...just maybe another 1 and done series. See the pattern?
