How do you know they didn’t ask for Chet’s records? If their agents just refuse to send you the medical records, what are you going to do? Smith had to give Rockets his medical record because he knows he’s fallen to #3 with Paolo at #1. Chet on the other hand doesn’t have reason to do so.
Not sure why anyone cares so much about who the #1 on the Rockets board was, as if they are incapable of getting it wrong. They chose Green over Mobley and Barnes last year, no matter how you feel about Green right now that's nowhere near a foregone conclusion whether that was the right move or not. The top 3 this year by all accounts is very close, and Houston has no proven track record in drafting like Presti or Masai so whoever fell to us easily could be better than the "#1" on our board.
It's a Stone M.O. - frustrating AF. If Stone wants nothing to do with Mobley or Chet, undersized 7 foot unicorns who had ZERO history of injuries how can we trust him to pick the more injury prone Wembayana should opportunity presents itself?
Wtf are you frustrated at exactly? They didn't make the trade, which means, if Chet fell to #3 they were prepared to take him. In no way do I think Stone is infallible, but give it a rest.
Both perspectives are valid, however one is stronger and more practical in my opinion. My take? Rockets attempted to trade up for the number one guy on their board once they realized he was snatched from up under them after a shocking turn of events from Orl. The other (and weaker) take is hoping to trade up as some mitigation plan to avoid drafting a player (Chet) that refused to share his medical history. What's realistic to me based on the info shared was that the Rockets had medicals on ONE guy: Banchero. Didn't have medicals for Jabari or Chet prior to draft day and they only received Jabari's hours before (once it was clear Banchero was going first). The perspective of attempting to trade up b/c you were afraid of drafting or having to make the decision on Chet @3 just doesn't sound like a strong or likely play and is actually a disservice to a front office that is thorough to the core on evaluating players (Stone's player acquisition resume has been solid). IMO they would have taken Chet in a heart beat had Jabari gone #2. They'll never confirm Paolo was their number one guy, but in the end, the article served its purpose, which was to spark debate/conversation. Looking forward to the game tonight and the subsequent threads that will be created to discuss Banchero/Jabari.
That isn't clear. But we all know that Stone clearly coveted Banchero. And we know that Iko quickly put out a story AFTER the draft that Jabari was at top of Rockets want list. If Stone successfully traded up it may have been a coin flip but color me doubtful.
Are you serious? They of course asked for Chet’s medicals, and again…as clearly layed out in the article…they were told they could have them if it was clear Chet was falling. It’s telling you exactly what happened and you’re trying to dig into a theory that the Rockets were inept. The players control who they want to workout for and who gets their medicals. The Rockets didn’t simply refuse to get medicals or workout the top 3 players. That idea is ludicrously asinine.
It really depends I think. This year’s top 3 are really close. No one really stands out compared to the other two. If next year Victor is head and shoulders above everyone else, I don’t think it’ll be a hard choice. IF the opportunity presents itself. A very big if.
It clearly tells you what happened, so not going to hash it out again. They didn’t have medical access because the agent/players refused to give it to them not due to lack of diligence on the Rockets. That’s not part of this conversation. Who they were taking at 1 is debatable but why they were trying to move up really isn’t.
That's not the implication at all, why would they have only asked about trading up AFTER knowing Orlando wanted Banchero, if they wanted Jabari? They would've needed to ask when media and insiders said Orl wanted to pick Jabari, OKC is totally irrelevant in both scenarios.
Or try to trade up at the zero hour. If Jabari was their guy, the trade discussions would have happened BEFORE the last minute noise about Banchero going first. Stone and TF uses Feigan, McMahon and Iko to leak this nonsense to make them appear more competent than they really are.
I'm watching on mute because this will be brought up ad nauseum tonight. I remind everyone, ESPN is an entertainment company not a news organization. Tim McMahon is a form of entertainment, not a journalist.
Did you read it? Only new, substantive, quotes are from ORL. If anything it was Magic GM who "leaked" this garbage in a piss poor attempt and making him look really smart LOL Instead looks like an idiot who claims to have outfoxed everyone while having the #1 and doing nothing with it other than taking a player. Where is the outfoxing LOL?!?!
It is wild how much time has been spent in this thread trying to help folks comprehend the meaning of a single paragraph. It is an easy-to-understand paragraph when you're not projecting your pet narratives all over it
Because the Rockets were comfortable taking either Banchero or Smith and without Chet’s medicals weren’t sure on his status. You trade up to 1 to guarantee either of those guys. OKC is absolutely relevant because the Implication as spelled out in the article is that Orlando takes Banchero and the Rockets don’t want to risk OKC taking Smith and leaving them 5 minutes to look through Chet’s medicals.
