I finally saw D Cousins play today. OMG!! Just as advertise. He's soooooo immature and so emotional and bone headed. And at one point after he whacked a player in the nuts, he was shown screaming back at his coach on the bench. Do not want.
If that Udoh kid is there the Rockets MUST draft him. I have watched a LOT of Baylor ball this year, and he is the shotblocker we need.
Ugh..... where have you been man? We have a bunch of wings in Battier, Ariza, Bud, Martin and Taylor. Since this is the year of the big man in this years draft, we need to get one. I wouldn't mind getting Paul George but we may finally get a big man that can block shots and protect Yao from getting foul truble if he's still on the team next season.
I see Battier and/or Budinger gone this offseason, possibly also Taylor. We already have Hill... Scola's in his prime... so no spots at the PF... Chuck Hayes is likely to stay with this team and Yao is coming back. I hope the Rockets don't waste the pick on a big man. We really don't need one.
Here is the thing. Like the previous poster just stated, it seems as if PF is sort of set unless you can upgrade to Bosh like talent. So for a big man you would want a Center. Rookie centers are notorious for taking a good deal of time to develop. In fact, I think if Hayes is retained that he or Jeffries and Hill will see some good time together as the back ups. Otherwise, I could see a run-em gun-em back up squad with Hill at Center with Battier at 4 or what not. The only reason you get the Rookie Center is because you do not expect to retain Yao after the 2010-11 season, or you expect him to be a shell of his former self. And even in that situation, that rookie will be hard pressed to be a solid back up, particularly on defense which is why would be drafting a Center in the first place. This is even more the case considering this crop of young big men are full of talent and potential, but in no case whatsoever closed to being finished products. (Aldrich and Patterson may be exceptions to this last statement. But drafting Aldrich would be bad move until he is picked for another team, and Patterson is too undersized to make a defensive impact on defense) We do have a lot of wing players right now. While I admit the way the team has played without Battier has been worrisome, you cannot deny that the injuries are not worrisome. Hopefully with Yao, his defense will be much better next year, but I have a feeling it will be only marginal improvement. Ariza is not a Top #3 offensive weapon, and he still has lapses on defense. Buddinger and Taylor have gotten limited playing time, and you really don't know how much they will progress. Even considering the best case scenario, I have a hard time seeing either being a shot-creator for themselves, much less their teammates. They just do not seem have the mentality, nor the right skills to do so. Furthermore, I could see a few of those 4 players being used in trades this off season. Martin is the only wing who can create, but we all know he is very injury prone. So you have to expect him to miss at least 15 games next year. Even in the games he has played in, I have yet to see him try to will the team to win the 4th quarter. That job has been given to Brooks. I also do not seem him playing more than 30-35 minutes next year. As a result, if we can get a wing player whose main skill to be able to create a shot for himself, we should pick him up. That is the skill we should covet and get if possible. Sadly, this draft does not have a glut of these wing players, even in the lottery. There are three wing players everyone knows has this talent and they will all likely be draft in the Top 5 picks (Wall, Turner, & Johnson). It is possible for another wing to show that talent in workouts. If that wing player is not there, then drafting the best talent is the best strategy. But do not expect the player in that situation to stay with the Rockets for long, nor to contribute to the team much at all next year.
If anything, our wing position is our deepest. We have Ariza/Battier/Budinger all at SF -- that's as deep as you get. Our SG spot is weak, with Martin/JT and Martin's injury history, so I could see Morey looking at an Xavier Henry type. And to be clear, wing players are Sg/Sf's only. John Wall is not a wing player. I do agree that we could fill a slot in our backup SG position. However, Jordan Hill gives us some flexibility. Ideally, I'd like him to be our backup four. But if we're able to trade up for a Aminu/Favors/Cousins type, we can just as easily move Jordan Hill to the backup C spot and have the draft pick play backup four minutes. Our backup center spot is more of a pressing need than our backup SG spot, especially in light of the uncertainty surrounding Yao. That's why I think Morey will most likely use the pick on a big man -- though if Xavier Henry falls, I think he could be pretty tempting as well. Outside of Henry and the obvious ones, I don't like any other wings in the draft (Damion James/Stanley Robinson/James Anderson/Willie Warner... no thanks!)
I'm having hard time seeing how Xavier Henry in the first place could go in the top-10, so he necessarily doesn't have to fall. Henry doesn't appear to be very athletic and if he doesn't measure to the 6'6" he is advertised, his stock will drop imo possibly out of top-20. And we more than likely have a chance to trade down if there isn't much value in our range.
Sure, but outside of Evan Turner, what other guard is there? The current mock goes: 1. PG John Wall 2. SG Evan Turner 3. C DeMarcus Cousins 4. PF/C Derrick Favors 5. SF/PF Aminu 6. C Aldrich 7. PF Ed Davis 8. SF/PF Wesley Johnson 9. PF/C Greg Monroe 10. PF Patrick Patterson 11. SF Jan Vesely 12. PF/C Dontas Motiejunas 13. Ekpe Udoh 14. Xavier Henry That's a lot of PF/C types and virtually no guards -- I could see a team inside the Top 10 reaching for him. If Henry drops out of the top half of the draft, it's because of poor workouts -- he's legit. He's been a starter and contributor for what was the #1 team in the country for quite some time and shot ~42% from downtown. I think he's a legit talent and I wouldn't be surprised to see him go in the 5-10 range. If we trade down, I'd think Morey would target an Aminu/Favors/Wesley Johnson type player. Though as Rockets fans should know by now, it's not easy to trade down. We've tried to do it multiple times before unsuccessfully -- it's easier to trade back. Either way, I've never been more excited for an off season.
I copied it from DraftExpress.com -- if it were up to me, I'd agree with you. Wall/Turner/Favors/Wes/Cousins would be my top five. We should be praying someone takes Ed Davis that early, as he could push more guys into our range.
If we are trying to draft a big man, as Morey stated, I think the best one available might be Epke Udoh. Draftexpress has him compared to Rasheed Wallace without the attitude. We could use a stretch 4 who can also play center with our second unit as a run and gun up tempo style. He also shoots well beyond the arc and has a nice shooting touch.
I don't think I totally agree with that statement. This teams biggest weakness is a big athletic player that can rebound above the rim and play defense in the post and provide a shot blocking presence. Chuck is great but he does not rebound above the rim and taller players tend to shoot over him.
They have Eric Bledsoe going 12th in some current mock drafts.... http://www.nbadraft.net/2010mock_draft --RB
They've got Ekpe Udoh at 24 -- I don't trust that site. A lot of their reviews on players are over a year old.. DX seems to be much better run and updated.
