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Keeping Up With the Rockets' "Draft Rights Held" Players

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by BimaThug, Feb 26, 2015.

  1. BimaThug

    BimaThug Resident Capologist
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    I thought it would be beneficial to have a dedicated thread for keeping up with the various players playing overseas and for whom the Rockets hold NBA draft rights. This could be a depository for information and updates on how these players are doing during their respective seasons (and in the offseason).

    DraftExpress does a pretty decent job of keeping tabs on draft picks playing overseas. Below are links to each player's DraftExpress Profile Page, which (in most cases) shows the league/team on which the player is playing along with the players stats in league play and in EuroCup play.

    I've listed the players below in the order of (my opinion of) their current/prospective value as potential NBA players:

    Sergio Llull (PG/SG, 6-3, 27 years old, 34th pick in 2009 Draft): http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Sergio-Llull-5023/

    Alessandro Gentile (SG/SF, 6-6, 22 years old, 53rd pick in 2014): http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Alessandro-Gentile-5917/

    Marko Todorovic (C, 6-11, 22 years old, 45th pick in 2013): http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Marko-Todorovic-6414/

    Jon Diebler (SG, 6-6, 26 years old, 51st pick in 2011): http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jon-Diebler-1410/

    Maarty Leunen (PF, 6-8, 29 years old, 54th pick in 2008): http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Maarty-Leunen-476/

    Brad Newley (SG, 6-6, 30 years old, 54th pick in 2007): http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Brad-Newley-341/

    Axel Hervelle (PF, 6-9, 31 years old, 52nd pick in 2005): http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Axel-Hervelle-284/

    Venson Hamilton (PF/C, 6-10, 37 years old, 50th pick in 1999): http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Venson-Hamilton-5557/

    My sense is that, of these players, only Llull, Gentile and (maybe) Todorovic have much value as NBA players, although Diebler may have an outside chance of latching on as an end-of-bench shooter.
     
  2. bmd

    bmd Member

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    I'm holding out for Venson Hamilton.
     
    3 people like this.
  3. cwebbster

    cwebbster Contributing Member

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    Delete....
     
  4. basketballholic

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    2015-16 the year of Llull?
     
  5. justtxyank

    justtxyank Contributing Member

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    I don't think we will ever see Lull in a Rockets uniform.

    The Rockets are going to need their MLE this offseason to sign some combination of Josh Smith/KJ McDaniels/free agent. I'd like to see one of these international guys come over and be big for us.

    I think the NBA should address this in the next CBA. Guys you draft that stay overseas should have their own salary cap exception for you to sign them, like any other first round pick.
     
  6. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    What a great idea for a thread, Bima. Kudos! I'll be clicking on those links.
     
  7. Clutch

    Clutch Administrator
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    It will be interesting to see what happens with Alessandro Gentile. He's got good size for the two-guard and can really score at that level... I don't think he's much of a three-point shooter though, but not sure.

    [youtube]ex1E21L5S2M[/youtube]
     
  8. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

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    Man, that John Tesh theme is mesmerizing.
     
  9. Pete the Cheat

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    Morey had targeted bringing him over this year ahead of Papa if memory serves
     
  10. shastarocket

    shastarocket Contributing Member

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    Since we are talking about him, can someone knowledgeable expand on why Llull is seen as the ideal PG next to Harden?
     
  11. justtxyank

    justtxyank Contributing Member

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    He talked about wanting to bring him over, but Gentile is going to be hard to poach for awhile. Really hate this system. By the time you can get a guy over here they are almost 30.
     
  12. peleincubus

    peleincubus Member

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    what are the chances venson hamilton signs? hah

    he was drafted the same year as steve francis
     
  13. justtxyank

    justtxyank Contributing Member

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    Good 3 point shooter, great FT shooter, can work as a catch and shoot guy if Harden has the ball but can also work as a creator with the ball in his hands. Puts in work on defense, aggressive for steals, low turnovers.

    I don't know if he is ideal because I really want a total deadeye, but he's interesting at least. More upside than any PG on our roster currently.
     
    1 person likes this.
  14. hooroo

    hooroo Member

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    Get your very own limited edition "Toyota Auris Brad Newley" :grin:

    <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MkZBmB_Fquo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

    Surely, the Rockets can get a second rounder pick from the Jazz?..
     
  15. saleem

    saleem Contributing Member

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    Still on that bandwagon, he isn't of much use to us or anyone else for that matter.
     
  16. showa13

    showa13 Member

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    Ha I like on Gentile's page one of the articles highlights a certain 7 footer from Lithuania
     
  17. saleem

    saleem Contributing Member

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    You are correct, but Gentile decided to stay in Europe.
     
  18. hooroo

    hooroo Member

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    The Jazz picked up Ingles because of Exum. He's good enough to be a bench player in the NBA.
     
  19. Clutch

    Clutch Administrator
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    I was talking about this the other day. The trend seems to be you have to sign and bring over players overseas while they're raw, because they want to develop on the NBA's dime and get their rookie contracts out of the way. Look at Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bruno Caboclo and Clint Capela, all players who insisted on coming over right away.

    For second round picks on established players, you have to pay a good amount to get them to come over because the overseas market for their services is generally higher than $1-3 million. Vassilis Spanoulis made a sacrifice to come over and regretted it. It took the Bulls giving Nikola Mirotic a three-year, $17 million contract to get him to come over, and he had a $3 million buyout. Rockets gave Kostas Papanikolaou a deal worth almost $5 million a season (though admittedly, it was strategic with the non-guaranteed/team option second year).
     
  20. justtxyank

    justtxyank Contributing Member

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    Yeah and it's just a terrible system. The NBA needs to address this in the next CBA. I don't have a solution to propose because I don't know the inner workings, but when teams draft a player that is overseas, they need to be given some sort of salary exception to bring them over. Not in excess, but it makes it really hard to get the best players into the NBA when teams have to use their MLE to gamble on an international player.

    To elaborate, signing them when they are raw and young sucks for teams because they won't get their prime years. Morey even touched on this before one draft, can't remember which one, but he explained that it is financially more efficient to let them develop over there so that you get to keep them on controlled salaries for at least a portion of their productive years. He seemed to be saying that if they develop here then they hit free agency before they can ever really contribute to your team.

    Giannis is actually a pretty decent example. Dude is going to get paid big before he ever fully breaks out.
     
    #20 justtxyank, Feb 26, 2015
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2015

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