i don't feell comfortable trading swift yet. i don't think he'll get much better but with deke going into his last year we need a backup F/C who can block shots. sheldon williams is basically equal to swift. the other big guys available mid to late lotto aren't worth us waiting for. we need someone who can help now. i think we draft a SG who can really shoot the ball. if he can create his own shot then that's a plus. ROY or REDICK. both could be our starter.
Are the team USA tryouts before the draft? If so this could give us an idea on how Reddick could stack up against elite competition... I like Sheldon Williams from what i've seen. But i have no idea of what else is out there except for what's in scout reports.
the Noah kid certainly has some amazing speed and skills but is very thin and raw and i would guess not give us much next year brand's offense was not that great at duke and he has turned out great, so sheldon williams D, rebounding and experience have some appeal as an outsider what about the tall dude from illinois.. augustine, not sure he is quick enough to play the 4 although saw him make some nice drives the other day, he has some nice offensive skills and is smart and ready to play... have no real idea if he is first rounder or second rounder though really not sure about Reddick, his shooting would be nice, but damn i am sick of being undersized defensive at the 2 and this made worse by also being small at the one.... splitter might be a nice addition at the 4 also
we have need at the Centre??? and if tmac can't guard 2s then surely we really only have 3 positions to fill
.... .9% .... 9 lotto balls .... if everything happens as expected then we pick 11 or 12. almost complete crap.
We could use a backup C and a backup SF. I don't think we will select a C though. Our biggest need is a taller SG that can shoot.
We need to keep in mind that we will likely be bringing VSpan over next year, so it is *possible* that our PG position will be solid, with Alston and Span manning the 1. We need a 2 who can nail a shot consistently. And we need a 4. I'm sorry, but Stro is not even as big as Tracy, so there is no way he is going to 'develop' into anything more than he is: an ath-uh-lete with no hoops IQ. Grab a 2 in rd 1, (Reddick maybe?) and find a 4 in trade or elsewhere. Where is Big Baby slotted? That guy could play for us some I bet.
I'd have to say, in response to a previous post in the thread, if there was ANY way of pulling Gerald Wallace away from the Bobcats outside of trading either Tmac or Yao, I would say jump on it. The man IS a monster as previously mentioned as well as an efficient scorer.
Yup, a young-ish back up who could play PF as well would be nice as Mutumbo doesn't exactly have much left in the tank - of course given the over-valuation of size in the NBA draft it's unlikely a decent one will be around when the Rox draft.
I have been thinking of some options for the Rockets next year. And in my mind I felt that this team really needs a serious upgrade in the Swingman position, more from the PF position, more depth overall in the role players and clearly more outside shooting. With the DRAFT I see the Rockets going one of two ways. 1 -- Draft the best available 2/3 swingman. Looking for someone 6'5" and up. No more combo guards. GATER already mentioned a couple of good names. or 2) -- Draft the best available PF option which would then open up the Rockets to moving Swift for...you guessed it, that 2/3 swingman we are looking for. This might net us the quickest turnaround since the 2/3 will be an experienced player, someone that can score and be a 3rd scorer right now and would leave the draftpick PF as a good role player garbage man. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I really have been impressed with Florida's Joakim Noah (6-11, 230) and the way he has been playing. He is just a soph but the way he is playing he could be a lottery pick, and might be there for the Rockets. His quickness around the basket, high BB IQ and high motor make him a really good candidate to play next to Yao. He is kind of a mix between AK-47 and Anderson Varejo....including the hair. For those curious, check out his numbers this year. Including towards the later part of the season. http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/players/playerpage/524808 I think an interesting scenario would to draft Joakim Noah with the 1st round pick, which would open up us being able to move Swift for a 2/3 swingman. And for illustrative purposes, suppose we could move him for Morris Peterson. Then the Rockets could use their 2nd round pick (1st in the 2nd round) to perhaps move up into the 1st round in the mid-20's to a team wanting to cut salary and not take on 3yr guaranteed contract. Then the Rockets could draft a back-up PG, perhaps someone like a Dee Brown or someone like that. Additionally, the Rockets could split their MLE on Jumaine Jones and then bring over Vspan. I think Vspan should be seriously considered IF he is deemed "ready", because everything I have read about him, he is someone that likes to "attack" the basket and drive. And that is something this team really needs. The new lineup would look something like this PG: Alston / Vspan / Brown SG: Peterson / Head / Sura SF: McGrady / Jones / Bowen PF: Noah / Howard / Hayes C: Yao / Mutombo That team would give us the outside shooting with Peterson/Jones that we are missing. It would give us more athleticism and youth (Noah, Brown, Vspan). Plus, when Yao is resting, you could play a "quick" lineup with Noah at C and Jones at PF. We are a long way off from the Draft, but in mind's eye, that team looks pretty good.
J.J. Redick... Our problem is shooting. We have lost more close games to outside shooting, than to anything else(outside of injuries). Keep Skip at the point...I love how he runs the O and pushes the ball up the court. I am not worried about the D of Redick. Everyone was worried about whether T-mac would or could play D. Hell, If JVG got Allan Houston to play half-way decent D, I'm sure Redick will be OK. The worst that could happen is if Redick turns into another Jeff Hornacek. I personally don't care who he turns into, as long as he can consistently hit the open J, since no one else on the Rox can.
WTF? T-Mac played insane D when he was in Toronto, he was their stopper and he guarded every position. His D slacked off a little in Orlando because of his offensive load (see: thread about Yao's defense and how everyone is outraged that JVG dare criticize his D after the load he has to carry offensively), but he always had the tools to be an excellent defender -- really tall, really long, quick, everything. JVG didn't peform some kind of miracle, his offensive load decreased and his defensive intensity increased. Redick has no tools, he's small and unathletic. Oh and Allan Houston is 6-6. This is the NBA, size matters -- except for a few special cases and those small guys are usually fast. If we have a top 10 pick, and they draft a perimeter player I hope it's Brandon Roy. An undersized backcourt is something we need to get away from fast. If this was last year and we're picking in the 20's, I would have no problem with a Redick type to pull a Jon Barry off the bench.
If that were true, he'd be a lock as a top 5 pick. Basically every coach in the league would love to have another Jeff Hornacek on their team, and if that's the WORST he could become, he'd be an incredibly safe bet. I would absolutely kill to have a player in the mold of Hornacek on our team right now. That guy was a killer.
how far down do you think macnamera (sp) from syracuse is going to go..i would take him in the later 2nd round think he can become a good point and can shoot well enough to get some minutes but i still dont think it is a deep draft past 14 picks,,,,and the 14 aint that great
Looks like you are not the only one who has been impressed with Noah. He may be out of our reach now. ----------------------- Who's Hot? Joakim Noah, F/C, Florida: Noah's stellar performance for Florida on Saturday against UW-Milwaukee had scouts and executives buzzing. Everyone knows that Noah is a great athlete with a great motor. On Saturday, Noah showed a number of skills -- passing, perimeter shot, ballhandling -- that haven't been in abundant display all season. Coach Billy Donovan put Noah at small forward during one series of plays, and he broke his man down off the dribble, delivered a no-look pass on the break and swished an outside jumper. While Noah is still a work in progress, both physically and as a basketball player, we've moved him up to No. 6 on the Big Board and the Top 100. We've actually had him going as high as No. 4 to Atlanta in our Lottery + Mock Draft for the past two weeks. It's no longer out of the question that Noah could be a dark-horse candidate for the No. 1 pick in the draft. If Florida continues to dominate (the Gators have looked as impressive as any team in the tournament in the the first two rounds), and if Noah helps lead them to the Final Four, he'll get consideration from teams, such as the Hawks, that are in the market for the combination of size, athleticism and skills that he can deliver. Brandon Roy, SG, Washington: After a slow start, Roy's been on fire the last two months of the season. He continued his hot streak in the tournament with two outstanding games in which he did just about everything you could ask from a player: He controlled the tempo of the game, scored both inside and outside, and played great defense. Roy is not the most exciting player in the draft. He lacks the jaw-dropping athleticism and the flair for the dramatic that some of the other top prospects possess. But is there a more complete guard in the draft? Villanova's Randy Foye is the only other player who really could be in the conversation. Based on the feedback we've gotten from NBA teams over the past few weeks, we've moved Roy past Arkansas' Ronnie Brewer on our boards and currently have him ranked as the seventh-best prospect in the draft. Considering that Roy began the season as a second-rounder, that's amazing. If he can help Washington pull an upset over Connecticut this weekend, we might have to move him up another spot or two. http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=ford_chad&CMP=ILC-INHEAD#
Well, there was that little incident where T-Mac said he didn't play hard all the time, but he has played better D under JVG than previously with his other teams. Roy would be wonderful to have, but we need to have a top 10. And you are right, size does matter...but so does putting the ball in the hoop.
Yeah, I think he is. No surprise that others are catching on to the skills that Noah brings to the table. When you watch him play, you have to be impressed. I was hoping he would kind of fly under the radar, but no such luck. Really, the Rockets wont have a chance at him now at around #10, they will probably have to get in the top 3.
