Think about the teams that made up the top 5 draft picks and how their teams have performed for the last two to three years. Philly, LA, Boston (from BKN), Phoenix, and Minnesota. Firstly, those teams would trade their best draft pick along with their best player if they get a bonafide star, such as James Harden. Secondly, those fan bases have had to deal with some TERRIBLE times. Philly hasn't been relevant in like a decade, and have fielded some of the worse teams in NBA history. LA won two championships 6 years ago, but since then they have been utter crap, especially the last three years. Boston fans are lucky as hell. Phoenix has had talented players like Dragic, Isaiah, Bledsoe, but they haven't done jack**** since they made the WCF in 2010, and before that they hadn't done anything for like 3 years. Minnesota made the WCF like 13 years ago and haven't even sniffed playoffs since then. Now yes of course those teams have some amazing talent like KAT, Wiggins, D'angelo, Jahlil, Embiid, Simmons. We have Harden, and he's committed to this team, you can't say that about players who get drafted. Out of those 6 potential all-stars, probably only a couple will actually resign with their first team, if that. With the possible exception of KAT, any of those players would be traded in a heartbeat if their team had a chance at getting Harden in return. The tanking method produces awful basketball for a decade to get a few players that might be (probably won't be) superstars who will then most likely leave for a better team anyway. The best example we had of a team that tanked and drafted superstars was OKC. Now look at them. What other examples are there of a successful rebuild using consistent top 5 picks? GSW drafted outside of top 5 and Draymond was second round. Durant was added and Barnes is gone now. Besides, GSW was awful for like 20 years with the exception of the upset in the playoffs against Dallas. Finally, tell me that you don't love the basketball that we have had in Houston over the years. Starting with Francis, then Yao and TMac, then the 22 win streak, the 2009 playoff run, even the mediocre years weren't that bad. Then the Lin, Harden, Parsons year and then adding Dwight next season. The WCF run. Tanking sucks. Give me a competitive team that is exciting to watch with a superstar any day of the week.
How did you get Yao again? You do not have phrase it like that. You could field a young, exciting team. If you pick the right players, no way you end up like Philly being bad all the time. Philly picked several players that were not star material or constantly injured, some were close but they left.
Can anyone on this board tell me what Morey was thinking on draft night to allow Kay Felder slide to 57th and the Cavs grab him for just cash to Atlanta for their pick. Trust me on this one, he made a huge mistake. Maybe he already gad an under the table agreement with the 40 year old pg we signed, but the Rockets will be in quicksand until Morey is fired for his horrible mismanagement of drafts and free agent signings.
Apparently no one in the NBA thought he was more than a long shot to have any type of productive career in the league. So I suppose Daryl was thinking about what every other GM in the league was thinking.
That's a fair statement that you make.....all I can say is congrats to Cleveland for their scouting and making a trade that cost them nothing for this offensive machine. His size scared teams off, but they say he can leap out of the gym and is comparable to isiah thomas with more athleticsm. Rockets passed up on trading TJ for Thomas last year, so not sure why I thought they would have any interest in Felder.
Could can also think about drafting Nick Johnson over Jordan Clarkson, but I feel great about the draft pick that is Zhou Qi.
Years the Rockets have been <.500 in the past 40 years: 05-06 --> 34-48 --> #8 Pick traded for Battier. Wanted Roy which would have likely gotten title. Could have had Gay. 01-02 --> 28-54 --> #1 Pick used for Yao Ming. 99-00 --> 34-48 --> #9 Pick used for Joel Pryzbilla. (Bust, though that was a historically bad draft in retrospect.) 83-84 --> 29-53 --> #1 Pick used for Hakeem Olajuwon. 82-83 --> 14-68 --> #1 Pick used for Ralph Sampson. 80-81 --> 40-42 --> #13 Pick traded for Slick Watts. (Bust) Rockets did make first Finals appearance that season so silver lining. 77-78 --> 28-54 --> #4 Pick traded for Moses Malone. Maybe the Rockets just know how to pick 'em. But it sure seems when the Rockets do tank or have a horrible season, they tend to end up with a star (or at least no-stats star) as a reward. Also nearly every player who was a cornerstone for a Rockets team with title aspirations was acquired using a top pick. Harden is the ultimate exception. Even if you take into account the first 9 seasons of the Franchise's history when they consistently stunk, the team netted players such as Elvin Hayes, Rudy T, John Lucas, and Bobby Jones. If anything, given how few times this team has been below .500 in the past 40 years, this board whines way too much.
True, but I wouldn't account for anything before the lottery came into the picture. Losing was a guarantee to get you a top draft pick. Since then, we got Yao, where luck was on our side that time, but we easily could've been ended up with Mike Dunleavy Jr. who went #3 to GSW. Yeah, maybe the Rockets have a good history of getting good players when we suck, but that's just not a surefire method to becoming a contender, imo.
Go to Alex Kennedy's twitter site to see what I was talking about with future star Kay Felder. Second post down is a highlight from today of maybe the greatest pass I have ever seen in an NBA summer league game. You can't teach talent. There were many people screaming pre-draft for Morey to take Felder and while I understand the China guy being picked, it is tough to figure out why no effort was made to add this prospect when he fell to the fifties. Morey was asleep at the wheel on this one just like on his not obtaining Isiah Thomas when Phoenix was trying to convince us to take him off their hands. Barkley was right about Morey being a numbers guy who never played basketball and basically sucks as a GM.
We got Yao by having some luck on our side. I can't remember the number exactly, but we only had a 10% percent chance to get the number 1 pick and we luckily got it. We easily could've ended up with Mike Dunleavy Jr. or Drew Gooden who both went top 5 in that draft I believe. I agree that Philly has done a very poor job, but there just isn't enough of a correlation between tanking and becoming a contender that gives me confidence that's the way to go. I'll put it this way. All title contenders may build through the draft, but not all teams that build through the draft end up contenders. My point is, that we already have James Harden. The reason to go and lose is to get generational talent, and we got one already. As far as filling out the rest of the team, with role players and quality starters, our draft position is sufficient and we still have an above average FO when it comes to free agency and trading.
Okay here is the thing. The Rocket's currently have a star SG who normally does not play average defense. To make that work you basically need at least an average sized PG who can defend PG's and at times larger wings. Your SF's cannot defend good wing players for 48 straight minutes. This is especially true in today's league, where everyone tries to kill you from 3 and switching has become extremely in vogue. On top of that, Felder didn't play that well during SL. He had a FG of 39.5%, 3 pt FG of 17.6%, and a 1.7 A/T ratio. Meanwhile GPII in limited time shot 37.5% from FG, 50.% from 3, with a 1.75 A/T ratio. On top of all that. That pick sold for $2.4 million or something. Rockets already gave money to Denver for Lawson trade. May not have had money to buy pick.
I truly appreciate your response and it makes me feel a bit better about the situation. Thanks for taking the time to give the additional info!
I have always said this!! He looks like he jumps off his right foot to do a right handed layup. Good with numbers tho
