Apparently not very many. I tell you what, some of the worst NBA basketball I ever seen was about 3 months ago before the trade when we played Memphis and I had to watch both Hill and Thabeet run up and down the floor attempting to play each other. Pure pain. Like watching two sixth grade tall boys that just grew a foot and didn't know anything about how to use their body or play the game. Pure pain. All of you Hill lovers will have to face facts someday. Dude is a journeyman. He should not our 2nd big off the bench. He should be playing off the Clippers bench.
Josh Selby is currently working out in Vegas Not sure why he'd consider entering the draft this year. Especially after the season he just had. A projected lottery pick prior to the season...now projected to go late first/early second. Kind of odd.
I still think he will be a steal at the spot where he will be drafted. Especially if it is in the 2nd round.
He probably entered because he can go higher this year with some impressive workouts, then next year with a very loaded draft.
I've seen enough basketball games that I've seen a lot of worse players than Hill. Fact, Hill is good enough to play significant minutes on a winning basketball team. Is it pretty? No. Would I want a better player? Yes. It is not the job of other teams to allow the Rockets to get better. Good big men do not fall off trees. Let's assume the Rockets traded Hill for a sack of peanuts as you want. Scola and others are traded to get a center. That leaves Chuck (if the Rockets sign him) and Patterson as the starer and first big man off the bench. Yao (if the Rockets sign him) could come back, but I'm not counting on that. The MLE likely won't be able to get a decent 2nd big man off the bench. The draft really doesn't look like it will give a PF ready to play in the NBA at 14. That leaves Thabeet and Miller as the options for the second big man off the bench. I don't like Miller as more than a spot player so I will assume you are a Thabeet lover. If Yao comes back fine, I would love to push Hill out of the roation. If the Rockes can get someone better than Hill with MLE, I would love that. If the Rockets can get a player in the draft that is better than Hill on day one, woohoo. The Rockets are trying to consolidate talent. It will be very tough for the Rockets to trade to get better players, but at the same time get better depth.
After a bit of review, i am starting to like the play of Justin Harper and Jon Leuer. Both are good three point shooters with good height. Both are about 6'10 and 225 lbs.. More so Justin Harper because of his defense. We could actually get both with a bit of luck.
<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aROdr-IDE7g?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aROdr-IDE7g?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object> <object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kuErLbZZaiE?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kuErLbZZaiE?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object> Heres a little video on both these guys, Harper and Leuer.
Draftexpress has us taking Mirotic at 14. I'd be happy with that pick. He's young (20 years old), skilled offensively, and apparently shows good defensive fundamentals. Seems like a good two-way player. The thing is, he apparently doesn't have any immediate plans to jump to the NBA. And prying him from his Spanish team might take a while. But you never know.
Both PF/C Bismack Biyombo (6'9/7'7 wingspan/9'3 standing reach)and C Lucas Nogueira(6'11/ 7'5.5 wingspan/ 9'3 standing reach) have entered their names in the 2011 NBA Draft... http://www.beyondthebeat.net/blazers/articles/nike-hoop-summit-getting-to-know-lucas-nogueira-and-bismack-biyombo.html However reports coming from the Hoopsummit is that many GM's and Scouts are now saying that Biyombo is a lottery talent getting comparisons to a Serge Ibaka in being under the category of 'freak athlete'. Question, would you guys be opened to drafting two defensive bigs with both of our 1st round picks.
Thanks for posting this. Yeah, I just read that Lucas is 7 ft, knows he's under weight and has put in effort to get stronger (added 20 lbs. so far), and played soccer growing up. I want to draft him. If Thabeet or Carroll aren't consistently playing effectively I would trade those long term projects for this one. Really I would take both if they are the best players available (preferably with late first or second round picks, but you still have to go for the best player available who falls to your spot. We still need a two way SF as well though).
Biyombi looks a lot like Larry Sanders physically to me. Incredible length and chiseled. Same type of defensive game at the rim, dogging guys, and picking up junk offensively. May not be a bad bet at 14.
draft.net has us taking Terrance Jones who looks damn good. check out the KU youtube vid. http://www.nbadraft.net/players/terrence-jones
You know....you got something here. That dude is a player. So, here's my question. Can he transition to the three and play sort of like Gallinari and use his mismatch to either shoot the 3 or take a smaller SF defender into the paint???? I like this kid.
That is my question as well. He can play the SF on offense I have no doubt, but can he defend the NBA 3? (Can't be worse than Budinger)
He's long enough to be able to play off the opponent and still challenge the long ball, so he can play off smaller/quicker small forwards. Is he quick enough that he could actually be good defensively. He has good defensive instinct in the paint. With Martin at the 2, we really need an athletic, long small forward that can defend on the perimeter as well as give us effective offense. There's no question in my mind that this guy can play NBA offense and score effectively. If he can D it up, you've got something. The class of the SF position in the West goes through Durant. This is why I have been in favor of going after Kirilenko in the offseason. We've got to get that 6'9" long, skinny guy that can defend. I've wondered about Marcus Morris in this role as well. Small forwards the size of Chase are a dime a dozen. Chase is good for what we paid for him these couple years. 2nd round pick, minimum salary. He's got decent trade value right now because he's still got 2 years left on a very good contract and he's proven he's a rotation player. But he's not what we need to move to contender status. Gotta get bigger at the 3 with a guy that can shoot the 3 and defend against Durant. Yeah, sounds like Battier, but not quite. Battier is NOT an effective offensive player. This guy has the ability to be a lot better offensively. IF he can show some defensive skills, he would be a very good fit with our lower first round pick.
Harper strikes me more as a "stretch 4" and not much more. I wouldn't mind it if Morey takes him (as I will defer to his staffs' collective judgment), but I hear the biggest knock on him is his defense. Basically, picture a younger, better version of Brian Cook. As far as AK-47 is concerned, I have wanted a guy like him on the Rockets ever since Kirilenko burst on the scene with the Jazz when Karl Malone went to gravy-train a championship off the Lakers. Unfortunately, the 2011 NBA Draft will be held (due to the lockout, many, many, many) months prior to free agency. Therefore, the Rockets cannot rely on MAYBE getting AK-47 in free agency, especially when they don't know what the new salary cap will be. Better that the Rockets not let their free agency wish list dictate who they draft in June.
