Of course it makes sense. As the Rockets have shown in the past, there are far more avenues available in acquiring a player other than simply drafting him. It might not be for the draft, but if he becomes available via trade or free agency down the line, it's nice to have some notes on file for any particular player.
Well, his shot needs work. But if by garbage you mean anything worse than a superstar caliber player, you may be onto something. He brings toughness, and great defense. Him paired with PBev, would be some great defense for the whole game.
The only way we could get Marcus Smart is to get no worse than #6 in this draft. That would involve a trade with, say, Boston (Asik + Parsons for expirings and their lottery pick) or (much less likely) Harden to Philadelphia for their top 5 pick. Makes interesting fodder for Thursday doldrums, though. Are you letting his incident with the jerk Tech fan color your judgment? By no means is he garbage. Now, he could wind up on the level of a MKG player, for which Morey once almost gave away the farm in order to draft. So I hope Morey has learned not to offer up too much.
Wow, no way he's out of the lottery. His upside is too high and he got his act together in the final stages of the season. No way a talent with his athleticsm and package slips to late 1st round.
Based on Clutchfans these days, we should want to draft players who can deliver a non-stop stream of insults to our existing roster.
It's called scouting, and it's called you have a drafting board to have every players in the first 2 rounds on the board. There will be always players move up and down, therefore there are always opportunities to move up and down.
Marcus Smart would only give us a backup SG. He tried playing PG in school but didn't look to good, he definitely can do it, but I wonder how well. This guys is NBA ready.
Embiid is the one I want from this draft, IDC that we already have Dwight. Embiid can fit and start with Dwight and will make us a top 5 defensive team and will give us two elite shot-blockers. It's not gonna happen but I would gladly give away Jones, Parsons, 25th pick and anyone else not named Harden or Dwight for Embiid. It still wouldn't be nearly enough and we would probably have to give up Harden for anyone to consider.
Not that my opinion means anything but I'm not buying it. The bust rate for NBA draft picks - even lottery ones - is outrageous. Without doing any research, I would say Parsons is better right now than the majority of players picked in the top half of the lottery through the years ever became. Heard too many "Darius Miles is the next Garnett" and "Eddy Curry is the next Shaq" stories over the years to buy into any of this hype.
I've stopped following Alex Kennedy, his rumors are often wrong or a regurgitation of a Woj rumor anyways.
Rockets moved up to #12 two years ago to draft Jeremy Lamb - so it has happened. The Rockets though have always tried moving into the top 5 - which is extremely difficult to do - when was the last time a team traded away a top 5 pick on lottery night? Noel last season was #6 and he was traded away for a young all-star point guard in Jrue Holiday -- add in that Noel wasnt expected to play at all his rookie season (making his stock even lower) if Smart has dropped out of the top 10 the Rockets may feel they could put something together involving their own pick and something to move up. Could that be Parsons? Of course he is the most attractive piece right now I could easily see something like this happening draft night: Lin + Parsons + 25th pick -> Orlando for Jameer Nelson and 12th pick (provided that Smart is still on the board for the 12th pick) of course thats just pure speculation on my part
Cleveland is the target if Rockets want to get a 6-10 pick Asik + 25 pick for the Cleveland pick ( Nr. 9) if Smart fall Cleveland is in winning mode and they need a Center And they dont need Smart. I hope they are not in love with another player in the draft
Of course, but that doesn't mean that GM's aren't still trying to sell this to their fan base and ownership. If that wasn't the case, you'd see GM's selling their top 10 picks every year for mediocre players. But look in hindsight.... How many top 10 picks have been traded on or around draft night in the past 5 years? GM job security revolves around the idea of a 5 year rebuilding plan. If GM's were given 1 year to have the best possible team they can have, or they are out, the NBA draft would have a completely different allure to it. Its all about selling the idea that this player could be "the next Lebron or Durant" even though the odds are (as a recent example) a player like Jrue Holiday is going to end up being a better & more productive player than Nerlens Noel most likely. However there is a "chance" and a gamble with young talent that keeps fans & owners interested, and keep the value of draft picks where they are today.
Rockets do their due diligence on all players before the Draft... it's something they are very thorough on and secretive about. It doesn't necessarily mean they are interested in trading up ... it means they are gathering intel on all prospects in the draft. That intelligence is not only useful before the draft and on Draft Day, but it comes into play years down the line as well -- including opportunities to trade for that prospect if they arise and scouting against that player. As for Smart ... I've said this a few times -- If he slid at all on Draft Day, I would POUNCE on him if I was the Rockets.
It makes sense to trade up for Smart. He's probably the most NBA ready, and is rated highest by Pelton's WARP projection in rookie season. I like his game, especially on defense.
