I am still open to drafting either player but if you're telling me I can have a two-way Rashard Lewis or a (healthy) Michael Porter Jr with D....man........that's hard to pass up.
Move up and get both. Willing to give up Tate and/or Wood to make BOTH Chet and Jabari members of the Houston Rockets. Usman Garuba will be the Rockets THIRD first rounder in upcoming draft. And Garuba's game would be perfect next to Chet and Jabari. Schroder/KPJ Green/Jaygup/EGo Jabari/Mathews Chet/KJ Sengun/Garuba
@Clutch a humble request which I would have tried to add live to the discussion lest a screamer in my background... would you be willing to do another one of these right before the Sweet 16 games start? This was an incredible lead up to the tourney to get the basketball juices flowing. A little sweet 16 prospect discussion action can help keep things hot and heavy for us potatoes in the living room during this trying time of year.
Thanks everyone for listening! I really appreciate the support. I try not to push this opinion too hard, but I'm not a huge fan of Paolo's prospects. I want to believe, I really do. I've even framed him as a LeBron type... A big playmaker that is too strong for wings and too slick for most bigs. I just can't get there, though he does have good passing skills and can create his own shot. It's the fact that he lacks from three (which he will probably develop) and defensively (not so sure there) that concerns me. I'm worried about his player type, basically. If he's playing a similar role and skillset as Julius Randle, I'm not super thrilled. I do think he would be the favorite for Rookie of the Year, though. So in my opinion, if the Rockets were #3 and Jabari and Chet were gone, I would look to trade up first... Otherwise, I would be trying to leverage that position with a team at 4, 5 or 6 that really wants Paolo. The scenario (admittedly incredibly unlikely) that I use as an example is Houston 3 and Orlando 5. Trade down with the goal of getting Jalen Suggs or a future first from Orlando. Just an example of the type of deal I would look for But personally, if I had to pick there, I would currently take Jaden Ivey. My opinion doesn't really matter though. My guess is the Rockets would just take Paolo. It's recorded and available to listen to by clicking on the Space. The first few hours are heavy on the Draft and prospects. It becomes more general Rockets discussion later on, with some Draft mixed in.
I appreciate it, Don! Thank you for listening. I would love to do another one, if people aren't sick of me talking about the Draft by then lol. I was thinking we would do one after the tourney but before the Sweet 16 might be good also. Hopefully Auburn, Duke, Gonzaga, Arizona, Iowa and Purdue are all still alive. I'm pretty sure Memphis will be gone by then.
With shooting around them, how will teams defend Jalen Green AND Jaden Ivey? Transition, just forget about it. Those 2 are blurs and they want to dunk it! 2 guys constantly getting into the teeth of your defense and collapsing it. I’m all for Ivey at 3 or 4. I have a thing for guards that aggressively go to the basket. That’s what sold me on James Harden when he first got here. Ivey and Green would have tremendous gravity and open up so much for each other.
Interesting comment on picking Ivey over Banchero, because when I mentioned Rockets having to pick their draft selection and the best prospect available was Banchero, I was imagining Chet/Smith/Ivey were all taken ahead of the Rockets selection. I intentionally left it out because some may agree or disagree on Ivey over Banchero. I agree on Ivey as a player too good to pass up if he's the best player available. I'd have a hard time picking #4 if Chet/Smith/Ivey were taken, but Banchero is still available. It almost feels like we'd end up picking Banchero which will ultimately lead to us picking between Sengun and Banchero over the course of 1 or 2 years. I think Banchero has higher upside than Sengun, but would also net us a better player in a trade. We'd have a lot more uncertainty in our future with Banchero/Sengun than we would a Chet or Smith and Sengun. All that being said, I'm not draft expert and don't pretend to be one. Rockets could very well see Griffin/Sharpe as better prospects than Banchero and pick them as the best player available which creates a more organic growth on our team imo
Don’t know the Rockets board, but if you have Ivey as the best player on your board wherever you pick, don’t be that team where you get stuck with Marvin Bagley or James Wiseman with Luka, Trae Young and Melo Ball on the board because you thought you had to draft a big. We can possibly use our 2nd first rounder and other assets to sure up our needs in other ways. I think I’m pretty set with my top 5. Time to start looking at the BKN pick. That could end up being a very pivotal selection if we hit on it.
Schroder's gone next year. He turned down $84/4 years to stay with the Lakers, and while his next contract won't be that high, it's going to be high enough that it doesn't make sense for a rebuilding team to sign him. Sometime in the next couple of years Stone is going to go after an impact FA, and he won't want a big contract on the books to muck up those plans.
If Rockets pick at #3 and Smith/Chet are taken, I'd pick Ivey and see if Portland would be interested in a deal centered around Wood/16 for 7-9 (Duren). The hope would be that Wood + 16 is more attractive to Dame than both picks. I'd easily throw in more for that deal.
I'm all in for that scenario ... Except for Duren He doesn't work on a team with Sengun and Garuba as other top big options, since spacing is disastrous for creators playing 2 bigs that cannot shoot from deep Assuming we take Ivey top4 and trade Wood+pick to get back into top #6-10: - Griffin - Keegan - Mathurin - Eason - Jovic
Which bigs do you think would work next to a core of Green/Ivey/Sengun? Obviously with the goal of building a future championship level core. We will need a rim protector and a guy that can guard bigs at some point. I believe in drafting talent over fit in our situation and I don't think we have a true core of players to even consider fit to begin with so I'm not knocking the idea
There isn't enough tape for anyone to be completely sold at this point. He has done a lot of one on one stuff. So they know that he can break down defenders and get out in transition. The question with him is whether he can put it all together, and there are some questions about his level of development. I suspect he will try to come out and that he will do very well in individual workouts. Someone will try to trade up for him, possibly as high as #3 and definitely no farther than 8th. He has all of the physical attributes that are needed to be a star.
