I think what hurts the most about the Griffin pick is that we traded 3 picks in one of the deepest drafts in memory, and that many strong players were available later in the draft due to what was then an obsession with high school players. Furthermore, Eddie Griffin was considered to be the most talented prospect in the 2001 draft, but had already punched out two teammates (one in high school, one in college) and had visibly quit on his Seton Hall team during the season. He had headcase written all over his profile, and yet the Rockets picked him despite never having interviewed him. That was inexcusable and it set this franchise back for years. If we had gotten at least 1 decent player out of the 2001 draft, we would have had that much more depth to use as trade bait for Tmac or to keep once Tmac was on the team. Instead, all of the team's depth went out the door in the Tmac trade and we were left with having to fill our roster slots with castoffs for the next 3 years. And if we had actually drafted well (imagine the 2004-2005 team, but with Tony Parker running the point, Richard Jefferson on the wing and Zach Randolf at the PF), we could have had a a contending team (or the building blocks for one).
Bulls were supposed to get the 14th pick, but won the lottery with like a .5% chance and picked Drose. They didn't tank for him.
The pick that pissed me the most was in 1983 when we picked Rodney McCray over Clyde Drexler. Drexler had destroyed McCray in the NCAA final four. Dale Ellis would have been a good pick that year too. We wasted the 3rd pick in the draft for a role player (much like Battier) when we could of had Drexler for his entire career. 1998 was deja vue when we passed up on Rashard Lewis THREE frickin' times with Dickerson (14th), Drew (16th) and the legendary Mirsad Turkcan (18th). Dickerson had great skills, but the other two....what was our front office thinking?
I think the worst of all time would have to be Eddie Griffin. We traded the 13th, 18th and 23rd pick of the 1st round to move up to the 7th pick and draft Eddie Griffin. Our return was zero. Players we missed out on were: Zach Randolph Richard Jefferson Joe Johnson Troy Murphy Gerald Wallace Gilbert Arenas Brendan Haywood Tony Parker Samuel Dalembert Eight of those players were available were available with the last 17 picks in the draft and which is where the Rockets 3 original draft picks were located.
That pick pissed a lot of people off. I completely expected the Rockets to draft Drexler and then they passed on him. I was shocked and pissed. For years when I watched Clyde play for Portland all I could do was shake my head.
The back story on Lee Johnson (17th, 1979) was that the Rockets owner was selling the team and did not want another long term contract on the books. The Rocket thus purposely picked a bust and signed him to a year contract. That was the one and only year Johnson ever played in the NBA.
Sorry dreamshake, terrible list. Griffin really should be at the top. It was a gamble that made some sense at the time (I remember celebrating when I heard the news), but it could not have turned out worse. Turkcan at the top makes no sense -- he was picked in the middle of the draft and was traded away before playing a game. There were neither high expectations disappointed nor damage done. Besides that, completely wrong on Kenny Thomas. He played well for us and when we had our PF glut of Thomas, Mo Taylor, and Griffin, Thomas is the one we should have kept. His career after the trade got worse because he played for a bad franchise. He was good with us. Otherwise -- besides the Griffin debacle -- if that's the worst of our draft blunders, I'll take it 8 days a week. That's nothing compared to Kwame, Olowokandi, Tractor Traylor (RIP), Stromile, Sam Bowie, etc. At least when we've had the #1, we picked good players.
A bunch of guys that were taken in the 2nd half of the draft didn't become stars, while 3-4 taken with with the remaining 40 or so picks actually became something, and they are considered worst picks? Griffin probably should be on the list. Of course we had 3 1st rounders in 1998, and we see how that turned out. I'd say worse picks based on opportunity lost were: Rodney McCray Ralph Sampson Yao Ming Obviously should have traded all three of those picks.
I agree with Turkcan, he NEVER played a minute with the Rockets and he was a first round pick? What the hell were they thinking? At least Eddie Griffin played and had flashes of greatness. Nobody knew Eddie was mentally troubled. At the time, Rocket fans were so excited. I remember when he played against the Lakers, he was great, hitting Js and blocking shots. RIP.
Rodney McCray over Clyde is a monumental mistake but I can't agree with Ralph or Yao just because their bodies didn't hold up. Ralph was a one of a kind talent that we may never see anything like again. He was so awesome to watch, you can't call that a bad draft pick. Yao was also a one of a kind talent that brought 10 billion Chinese fans to the Rockets. Not bad either.
People saying Griffin are crazy...He was good enough ....and saying MCray is a "bust" because they picked him over Drexler is stupid too..... Oviously Lee Johnson is the winner..or the Drew pick
I don't fault the picks, but since this is all done with hindsight, there were much better options available. I think the trade for Eddie Griffin was the right thing at the time, but it ended up being a mistake. I don't fault the organization. In today's NBA we would have bought a second round pick and drafted Rashard Lewis. We shouldn't have taken him with our first round picks, since we could have traded down and paid him less money.
