I guess it all depends on how you look at things. I've been a fan of the Rockets since 1971 when they moved here to Houston, so I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. I've seen the Rockets win fewer than 15 games in a season, that sucked. I've seen the Rockets with Hakeem playing at the center position unable to win more than half their games, that sucked. I've seen the Rockets unable to win a championship with three superstars on the roster, that kinda sucked. This year it sucked that Yao went down with an injury, but I think it's been a pretty fun year overall. The Rockets are playing well at the end of a season in which we have seen new players emerge as possible future stars. We are certainly not a team without hope for improving in the near future. I think we can make an argument for the Rockets currently being one of the top ten or eleven teams in the league, with an opportunity to improve in the coming years, so I'm not ready to throw in the towel and say we are going to suck next year. I'm already looking forward to the draft, to summer league games, and to next season.
Good breakdown. The bolded part above is really what I am hoping we do (assuming we can't use them to get a superstar or move up). Why? 1) This draft isn't going to be loaded with great talent (or so the rumors say). 2) Usually when you trade back, you get something extra (an extra 2nd round pick, or you end up with a higher pick in general). 3) Like dobro said, we just don't have the room to fit 3 more players, barring a trade. 4) If we do somehow get 3 rookies, it's highly unlikey that they will all get playing time, I'd rather get 1 or 2 now and 1 or 2 later 5) It basically lets us "save" our current assets and use them later for a possible trade instead of forcing us to use them now. The only way I wouldn't want to do this would be if they are used in a trade for a superstar, or to move up (although I don't know if this would be the best year to do so). The bad thing is, I'm sure most teams realize how bad this draft could be, so we may get less (if we can trade them at all) for our picks than normal. Pugs
I'd like to see all of the above happen but I just cant see them not resigning Yao ..... again. The question becomes for how much and how long. Miller has two more years on his deal , a bitter pill to swallow if they cut him but he's dead weight and needs to go one way or another. I think his being moved / cut depends heavily on who the coach is. I'll be happy as long as they find a way to keep Hayes.
All three will almost certainly be Rockets next season. -Chuck - Co-MVP of this season. If they didnt resign him, the city of Houston would go into a mass riot... lives would be lost, etc... -Yao - already verbally revealed his hand in negotiations for a new contract. He has expressed a want to play again, said its not about the money anymore, and talked about the goodwill and relationship he has had with Houston. The Rockets will get him back on a very reasonable contract. I expect they would be willing to spend up to the MLE for him, but would like to stay around a two year low risk Vet's minimum contract if they can. -Brad Miller - They have one more guarenteed year out of Brad, then Im pretty sure the next season has a buyout option which likely will be used. The most obvious thing about Miller this year has been the fact that he has not been healthy, and his offseason conditioning was really bad. If he gets healthy again in the offseason, he could be very useful to this team as a backup. That is if Rick Adelman is still the coach of the team. Either way, no way Brad walks away from that much money, no way the Rockets give him that much money without working for it, and there are no teams in the NBA that would give him that much money after the season he just had, and the health he is in. Money is the key word here obviously. So Who Could They Cut to make room? - -The odd men out if the Rockets want to make roster space will most likely be Jordan Hill and Terrence Williams. With as many mid level draft picks the Rockets have coming up this summer and next, you can see why Morey was willing to spare one of them to take a gamble on Terrence and see if he could help them out NOW. It obviously did not work out, but Morey still has draft picks to make up for that one dud. If he trades back this year, he might be able to get it back anyways with even better draft odds.
I add though that Those two would have to be traded obviously. Jordan Hill could be traded fairly easily i suspect. Size, length, and athleticism will always have value. Heck Kwame Brown still has a job. Terrence on the other hand. Thats a tricky one for Morey to get out of.
While the 2011 NBA Draft will likely be devoid of many future All-Stars, the jury is still out on the DEPTH of the draft. Yes, it will be hurt somewhat by the impending lockout, but probably less than many here think. My best guess (as of right now) as to what the Rockets would look to do with those draft picks would be: --try to use them in a package for a veteran talent upgrade via trade --try to package multiple picks to move up in the draft --wait and see who falls to #14 (this worked out GREAT for them in 2010) --take at least one international prospect to develop overseas --trade one or more picks for picks in future drafts It's way too early to tell what the Rockets might do. For all we know, they could pull a 4-for-1 trade and NEED the extra bodies at the end of the bench next season. It'll be interesting, that's for sure.
If we cant move up in the draft or aquire talent trough free agency with our our picks I would draft the best available talent with our pick (even if its a power foward) and with the orlando pick i would draft lucas nogueira let him finish his contract in europe and as for the 2nd round pick im not sure
Good points as always. -Of course, with this Rocket's front office, the most unlikely scenario seems to always be the one they leave us all scratching our heads afterwards. -We know that trades are always on the table on draft day deals, however Im just not sure how they are going to bring in a major impact player with this current offseason not looking like the one for major players. -However Im wrong on pretty much every deadline deal Ive tried to predict from Morey. -Of course the Rockets will look to move up in the draft, package picks in a trade, or trade picks for veterans, but Im skeptical in believing that other teams will pull the trigor this draft. However, I can see teams trying to trade up in the draft this year. The Rockets 2011 picks will be very inticing for teams looking to fill out their roster and compete now that they could easily justify trading future picks. -Plus with Wildcards Jordan Hill, Terrence Williams, and Hasheem Thabeet on the roster next season, I am circling the summer of 2012 as the summer they revamp and try to bring in new prospects to work in with what they have that is working. They understand that there needs to be a good mix of prospects & Veterans, and this development staff has their work cut out for them with the above three listed players.
They are not going to cut Hill in favor of any draft pick we might get. Even if they pulled off a trade for the 2nd pick, they'd figure out a way to get something back for him. He's not Ish, he's not JTaylor. Don't be silly. As for having too many players, I am sure we can draft whom we want, and deal with the numbers after the lockout. But yes, we do keep too many players around. I didn't like giving up players for nothing this season.
Which is why I believe if they cant get a trade together to either - A. Move up in top 5 of the draft B. Trade for an upgrade in talent with existing NBA players Then they will look to C. Trade back at least one or two 2011 picks to 2012 or 2013, when they will be able to give Jordan Hill, Terrence Williams, and Thabeet one more offseason to improve. After this next season, they will be able to renounce Hill and Thabeet if they wish to. Terrence is the most likely to get moved ASAP if the Rockets can find a taker, Im sure they would rather take on two Rookies of their choice this Draft rather than only take just one and sit on Terrence's bad attitude. Problem is, to get rid of TWill they most likely would have to take on a bad contract, or pay a team to take him. Nice thing is you are right that they can take on all three Rookies at first on draft day, and then get rid of other players to make a roster spot before the season starts when the roster has to be at 15.
Not so fast, there. The Rockets must decide whether or not to exercise the 2012-13 options on Thabeet, Hill and T-Will BEFORE the start of next season. Because those three are under first round rookie scale contracts, their options must be exercised an entire season in advance, unlike all other team options, which can be exercised in most cases up until June 30 immediately prior to the option year. Basically, the Rockets will have another week or so of regular season games (and perhaps a looooooong offseason of hearsay or casual observation) on which to base their decisions on those three players for the 2012-13 season.
Hill will not be cut loose before he signs with another team as a restricted FA after his fourth season, unless he pulls a Ralph Sampson / Sam Bowie (career-threatening injury) or a Terrence Williams (highly questionable sanity). Here are the amounts needed to keep him: $2,855,760 (3rd season - already obligated) $3,632,526 (4th season) $4,896,645 (5th season - qualifying offer) OTOH, these are the same numbers for Thabeet: $5,127,720 $6,471,182 $8,444,892 Under current rules, they have to sign Thabeet (and Hill and T-Will) by 10/31 for his 4th season. If not, he's a UFA after next season. T-Will's numbers are a little less than Hill's, but unless he gets his act together, he will be gone long before Hill. Because of the numbers (and maybe upside), I think Thabeet is somewhat more likely to leave before T-Will. Hill, though, as long as he seems to be improving, will have trade value. As for the 10/31 date, that could be negotiated away. I'm not sure if the Rox need to make their decisions before this CBA ends.
Question about our rights to swap pick with NY: Can we swap picks with New York using the Orlando pick, given that the pick would be considered ours?
Unfortunately we cannot. Like Bima said earlier, the right to swap is basically attached to our pick. Wherever our pick goes, the right to swap goes with it. Too bad, it would have been nice to use it that way. I just hate seeing it go to waste, but I guess we can't let it bother us, what's done is done. Pugs Edit: To add a bit, not related to this particular topic... Orlando is still 2.5 games ahead of Denver, so it's looking less and less likely that we'll get the 22nd pick instead of the 23rd. The Clippers won and Detroit lost last night so it's all but set in stone that pick is going to stay at #8 in the second round. The Clippers have a good chance of passing Milwaukee (they're only a half game back right now) and Charlotte is still passable. So if things go right we'll swap with the Clippers up to #8, but this could end up being #9 or #10.
So am I correct that for the upcoming draft we'll have: #14 (our own)? #23 (Orlando's)? #38, 39 or 40 (Clippers)? Thanks
You are most likely correct. There is still the very slim chance, .5%, or 1 in 200, that we get the first pick, a .59% chance we get the second pick, and a .72% chance that we get the third pick. Basically a 1.81% chance we get to pick in the top 3. Also, the 2nd round pick is based on swapping with the Clippers. There is no guarantee the Rockets will make the swap, but I only see onereason they wouldn't. The only reason I can think of would be if they know a player is going to be available at their later pick, which means they could possibly pay him less (2nd round picks don't have set amounts like 1st round picks, but I would assume that most of the time lower picks get less). Even still, I don't know why we wouldn't make the swap. So yes, there's about a 98% chance that we end up with those picks. The only one that I could see changing would be our first round pick, but the odds are almost nothing that this happens. Let's hope we're wrong! That means we probably got lucky and ended up in the top 3! Pugs
"The orcs of Stern will spread, and the arenas of Houston & Las Vegas will burn. And all that was once great and good in this world will be gone. There won't be a Season, Pippin"
