Both McHale and MDA want veterans. Adelman wanted that too, but was given some young blood and he gave them a shot from the get go. That paid off. McHale and MDA have eventually given young guys a shot. In any case, it’s a mix of ownership, Morey’s tendency to make deals and coaches who want veterans that we’ve had a suboptimal environment for youngsters to develop.
Young players are long shot, which against front officr's Win Now strategy. Therefore, young players will never take into moreyball equation…we wanna win now or at least make use of star players ( swap) to ensure a sustainable upbeat market. Business-wise its smart; basketball-wise, it might result in a vicious circle (b/c goat players could hardenly be in the trade market) That change into a gambling, other than a system development.
Too often we trying to make other teams our Farm System so we make painful trades sometimes Rocket River
We haven't had great draft picks in a while to begin with. And the good prospect we pick up, like Montrez we give them up for stars to win now. We gave up so many damn picks going from 2017-2020 only to get to Westbrook. I really like the Raptors system of developing their players in the G League. A lot of them have been undrafted/low picks that are seeing major NBA minutes and are winning games for them
Raptors being in East doesnt hurt either. But philosophy of trading youth for stars/proven vets has been more successful in winning championships in recent years, even in the East. Cavs with Lebron forcing ownership to give up stable of young talent and picks allowed CLE to compete year in and year out for ring. Raptors eliminated every year by Lebron until he moved to West.
We draft poorly? The only miss we ever had was Morris over Leonard, but Morris has turned into a pretty good pro player.
Joey Dorsey and Royce White picks also misses. But every team has a few misses. CF is just full of unrealistic expectations and/or ignorance.
Joey Dorsey was a second round pick. Royce white was high variance pick. Morey was swinging for the fences since we had 2 other first round picks that season. Only players drafted after Royce that had a career were Dramond and Plumlee.
I believe Royce could have been successful if he actually had wanted to play. But it is interesting that Draymond is exactly the player that they hoped Royce would be.
It's easier to develop young players when the team was walking on the treadmill of mediocrity and everyone was able to get their shots off. This isn't a dig at Harden at all but the only two skills that a young player can develop on a team featuring Harden (or LeBron James) is to defend and shoot the baseline 3.
Seeing how that’s pretty much the only two objectives any non-center role player has on our team, yea, ideally that’s what they should learn and improve upon. But if you’re not getting consistent PT because your coach’s rotation is 7-8 deep in the regular season you’re not having much of an opportunity to grow right?
Issue is more about talent and value, the more talent and the more the team spent to acquire the player dictates value. I recall Clark getting opportunities last season until he hit a wall and regressed badly. This season his impact has been nil. House is a starter, last season and this season. Is slumping badly since his return from injury. Dekker played a lot for MDA, so did Montrezl Harrell, during their rook seasons. We all saw how ineffective Chriss was last season. Problem is 2 fold: First, Rockets lack talented depth vs. most NBA teams. Rockets do not have any young top tier talent (lottery picks, 1st rounders) that they would normally provide more leash while they go through growing pains. Second, the 2nd rounders, undrafted FA, GLeague pieces, etc. must perform extraordinarily well to get playing time due to more experienced players in front of them as the coach MUST win and advance deep into playoffs to keep his job. Rockets are a front loaded with vets because they are contending for a ring. Unlike the Wolves, Suns, Pelis, Grizz or Thunder who can afford to play their young talent heavy minutes.
Dantoni doesn't believe in developing players in a "win now" team. His dream is to run our 6 man regular season rotation into the ground then be forced to play our undeveloped players and wonder why they suck.
I don’t have a real issue with the Rockets drafting history under Daryl Morey. He has had zero high draft picks to work with. His biggest bust was Royce White but he wasn’t a high lottery pick and most players in that range are iffy. Obviously passing on Leonard hurts the most, but half the league passed on him and Marcus Morris has been one of the more productive players in that draft. The biggest issue hasn’t been that the Rockets haven’t drafted talented players. They have... Morris, Patterson, Harrell, Melton, Parsons, Capela. The problem really isn’t that the Rockets don’t develop talent or won’t play talented young players (Harrell got minutes, Capela as well). The problem is that the Rockets trade away their draft picks or young talented players. I supported the Chris Paul trade (and it was the right move) but it cost the Rockets #1’s and Harrell. Then the Rockets lost Melton in the Anderson deal. Then the Rockets lost another #1 in the Knight trade. The Rockets then lost a pair of future #1’s in the Westbrook deal. There really hasn’t been much worth a damn to coach. At this point Hartenstein needs minutes and deserves a consistent 15-20 minutes a night except in a bad match up. We may very well lose one and maybe two more #1’s in the next month. Losing guys like Melton for nothing really really hurt. All the draft considerations just to save money. Right now Melton is an elite defender that can guard 3-4 positions with his length. He is the type of player the Rockets hope to trade for.
False narrative: Rockets franchise best winning season had following players playing heavy minutes: Harden Paul Capela Ariza Moute Tucker Nene Green Iso Joe Ryno Regular season rotation had 10 guys which shortened in post season due to injuries (Luc, Nene), match ups (Iso Joe) and ineffectiveness (Ryno). The year prior, Rockets had depth out of their ears (and everyone played) but needed 2nd star to get out of 2nd round. No one remembers how loaded we were that there were TWO 6th Men of the Year nominees on the team? Harden Bev Gordon Lou Will Ryno Ariza Capela Nene Brewer Trez Dekker 11 players. 2018-2019 season and this season the rotations have been shorter due to lack of talent AND injuries. This season Rockets have had 3 players not contribute for an eternity: Gordon, Nene, Green. Gordon back now but Green & Nene will not play a single minute this season but still taking up roster space. Also one roster spot that is empty.
