What is your current Rockets Top 5 Draft Big board?

Ime and Tilman seem to love KPJ so I have it

Wemby
Miller
Scoot

 

If it's #1

P.G. - Harden
S.G. - Green
S.F. - Smith
P.F. - Sengun
..C - Wembanyama

If it's #2

P.G. - Henderson
S.G. - Green
S.F. - Eason
P.F. - Smith
..C - Sengun

If it's #3

P.G. - Any Trade Is An Upgrade
S.G. - Green
S.F. - Miller
P.F. - Smith
..C - Sengun

If it's #4

P.G. - Any Trade Is An Upgrade
S.G. - Green
S.F. - Smith
P.F. - Walker
..C - Sengun

If it's 5 or above. . . . Whatever.

 

Your 2, 3, 4 lineups are all 20 win teams again.

 

Mostly I would love to see the Rockets compete the next several years with an ALL ROCKETS DRAFTED team now that they have a real coach in Udoka.

P.G. - TyTy Washington Jr. / #20 pick 2023
S.G. - Jalen Green / Josh Christopher
S.F. - Jabari Smith Jr. / Kenyon Martin Jr.
P.F. - Alperen Sengun / Tari Eason
...C. - Victor Wembanyama / Usman Garuba

What's Fing crazy is this is ACTUALLY possible. That's how many draft picks the Rockets have had the past 4 years. If you packaged Jae'sean Tate and the #20 pick you might be able to move up a few spots, say #17 or so. I'm a Tate fan and would rather KPJ and the #20 to move up. Id Target Cason Wallace at the backup PG spot. Let the Kentucky guards battle it out for the starting spot. To get Wallace you may have to package a future pick. I haven't seen him any lower than 13th pick. Mostly around #10.

 

Yeah, with Silas at the helm. I'd say they're 35 win teams with Udoka.

 

No way - there's just no evidence that simply swapping out the coach alone generates that kind of change. That's almost doubling their win output.

 

I highly doubt our front office is excited about drafting Miller, 1 year after drafting Jabari.

Not shading Jabari, but we saw firsthand that 3 months of great college 3P shooting does not necessarily convert to being a good NBA shooter (jury still out on Jabari). Especially with how Miller’s shot looked in March.

And if Miller isn’t an elite shooter at the NBA level, he has less to fall back on than Jabari. Smaller, similarly mid athleticism, worse defender. Miller has a better handle and passing but neither are NBA ready.

I for one am not looking forward to another year of “can this guy actually shoot” watch. Would rather draft an elite athlete + elite feel / passing prospect (Scoot or Amen).

 

It’s a nice goal, in theory. But that team probably needs an additional $40M in salary just to get to the league minimum requirement. You have to add outside players.

 

Only allowed to acquire players the Rockets originally drafted? No front office would approach things this way, but entertaining to think about.

I actually wouldn't mind bringing in De'Anthony Melton (if we get rid of KPJ) plus either Capela or Hartenstein. Mook Morris can stay in LA though and Dillon Brooks can be anywhere but here.

No way would I ever go into next season with TyTy as the starter though. You'd have to take a point guard with the Clippers pick (or trade it to move up and get one).

 

We underperformed with a sht coach with tanking direction.
Lookin at the talent we had, no fking way we should only b at 22 wins.

 

If it’s 5, probably the same. Walker will probably be still there

 

It’s not only changing the coach. It’s also adding 1 year of experience to a lot of really young players

 

“Long time NBA coach” ? Who? Where? Surely you aren’t talking about our new ball coach who has exactly 1 year of head coaching experience.

 

There is when the front office stops trying to force a tank.

 

I don't expect them to do that I just think it would be cool to see it happen. You know how much everyone is attached to Hakeem, Horry and Cassell, not just because they won a Championship with the team but also because they started with the Rockets. Not saying Elie and Maxwell, etc don't have just as much a place in the hearts of fans from the Championship years, it's just those guys were brought up Rockets from the beginning.

Mostly, I don't think any team has fielded a full team of drafted players and competed or won a Championship and that would be awesome to watch. 99.99%sure it's never occurred.

 

This.

 

Well you are also adding an extra year experience for the young guys and spending 60 million in FA.

 

I get the love for Walker as the local kid who plays great defense (something the Rockets lack). But I think that might be a bit of local favoritism speaking. If the Rockets are picking 4th and the top 3 are gone, why wouldn't they take Amen Thompson? I get the concerns about the shot and the quality of competition he's playing against, but his ceiling is higher than anyone left on the board at that point and his greatest skill as a playmaker is the skill the Rockets have the greatest need for.

If they end up picking 5th or 6th and Thompson's gone, I'm on board with the Walker pick. But at 4, I'd take Thompson in a heartbeat.

 

It's a floor versus ceiling thing. I'm leaning toward Amen too right now if we're outside the top 2 and they're both available when we pick. The upside is just ridiculous. But Amen is a lot more raw and less ready to be a solid NBA contributor. It's going to be a much bigger adjustment for him starting out in the NBA, and sometimes these kinds of guys do end up being busts. I don't think that'll be the case here, but you never know. Walker is a very safe pick by comparison because his defense is going to translate right away.