[Doogie Wolfson] Houston has been calling a lot for Wolves #2 pick

Cory (Houston)

Any predictions on the Rockets pick at 14? Or do you think they will move up. I'd like to think that Morey is trying to make a play for Valanciunas.

Chad Ford (1:30 PM)

Daryl Morey is always trying to make a play. From what I can gather, everyone in Houston is on the table. Everyone. It's a good strategy. I don't think the Rockets are married to moving up. Nor are they married to getting vets. They're just looking for the best possible deal. I wouldn't be shocked to see Kevin Martin or Luis Scola moved. If they keep 14, look for them to try to add a center or point guard. Bismack Biyombo, Nikola Vucevic and Jimmer are options there. If they move up, I agree that Valanciunas could be the guy.

 

That team would suck. The Rockets better get 3 high draft picks from it...

 

Kevin Martin + 14th pick for Wesley Johnson and the 2nd pick, I think that would be about fair we keep the 23rd pick and draft a 7footer (Vucevic)and we are in good shape.

 

I think those statements are a little strong, even though i agree with some of them. Lowry improved more than any player i've ever seen from the beginning to the end of last year. Granted he's not the most talented PG atheltically, but he might have the biggest heart in the league. You don't trade those kinds of guys lightly. He's basically the leader of our team and if he keeps improving he becomes a crucial piece of our puzzle.

It's way too early to say that Patterson will be a life-time role player. That's simply unfair. He certainly has the talent to be solid starter.

Martin is much better than you are giving him credit for, and is just starting to hit his best years.

The rest of your prognostications are pretty accurate in my book, but i will point out that TWill and Webster are about as similar as Obama and Gingrich. One can shoot and do nothing else, the other can't shoot and do everything else.

Agreed that everyone should be available if it means improving the team. no one is untouchable, but guys like Lowry and Martin are not the problem. Our front court is the problem. We should be focused on trading Scola, Bud, and Hill, not our backcourt guys.

 

For reference, this was my proposal

Lowry/Dragic
Lee/Twill
Budinger/Webster
Hayes/Patterson
Kanter/Pekovic

This would leave you with 3 1st round draft picks in 2012, widely regarded to be the best draft in recent memory. You're set at PG, PF, and C, and just need to add a couple of pieces at SG and SF.

 

Sigh. Should I use an example that you can follow??? I know separating the issue at hand from other less-relevant factors (such as the actual talent level of the example vs. that of the player at issue) is a hard concept for you to comprehend, so I'll try to "dumb it down" for you. Actually, I will give you a hypothetical (we lawyers LOVE hypotheticals!) without naming specific players. This way, you won't be confused by the names. Instead, you'll likely just be confused by the hypothetical itself.


Team ABC is a mediocre NBA team but with a fairly healthy salary cap situation (i.e., no horrible long-term contracts that are crushing the organization's flexibility over the next several years). One of the best (if not the best) players on Team ABC is Player A. He has his limitations but is a highly proficient scorer who was among the top 10-15 scorers in the NBA last season. Team ABC also has Player B, a quality backup at Player A's position but who is not the caliber of player as Player A.

Team ABC is interested in acquiring a top-5 draft pick in this year's draft. They are targeting Player X with that pick. They think that Player X has the potential to become as good as Player A, although they recognize that it is unlikely that Player X will ever actually become better than Player A.

Even though having Player X, along with Player B, would be very nice for Team ABC, that is not enough reason to trade Player A, since Player A is simply a better asset. (Yes, I used the word "asset" here.)

 

ABC also has player C, with player P playing behind him. Player C is a very good player, just one step below all-star status. Player P has shown enough potential to be considered a future starter. Player B is desired around the league by veteran team looking to upgrade to contender status.

While everyone on ABC is available, Player C is the most logical player to be traded for a young player or draft pick.

 

The problem is that most, if not all teams with high picks would pefer Player P to Player C.

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bulls-confidential/2011/06/would-kevin-martin-be-available.html

I didn't know where to post this. I didn't want to make a new thread (it isn't quite realistic, if for no other reason than all the bodies we'd take back), it isn't a random trade. It's interesting, from an amusement POV.

 

I'd like to hear the counter-proposal on that phone call. "Well that's an interesting offer, but that sounds like I'm getting too much back for Kevin, all I need is Omer Asik and I hear your starting point guard has some potential..."

 

Is player B supposed to be player C? Can't you just help me out and call them player LS and player PP?

 

my question is whether martin is really worth #2 pick or not in most draft nights. to answer this question, we have to go back to square one. i remember we had a discussion on the top of martin's strenght and weakness a while ago. i don't want to bring this up again but i will put them in a simple way to show what is my opinion.

he is definitely a sharp shooter but with a * at the end. his points came mainly from two ways, getting open (open jumps or open layups) and going to ft line. if he was not open, he rarely created sth, different from superstars. he heavily relied on his fake shooting action to get him in the charity strip, a veteran move that is also used by alot of superstars. however, the difference is superstars have multiple ways to make refs blow their whistle.

you have to dig deep to see why he wasn't, isn't, and will not be a superstar.

 

3 1sts, and Asik?

I don't hate it.

 

Two of these firsts are the 28th and 30th of this draft.

Do you really think the Rockets put much value in these picks when they already have the 14th and 23rd?

 

What caught my attention was Omer Asik and three first-rounders. We can sure use those items.

 

Yeah. Hell, I'd rather have the #38 pick (which the Rockets also have) than the #30 pick. Pass.

 

Exactly, like others have said, I would think if anything the Rockets would want to either group picks together to get less but better ones in return or stash one in Europe, not turn one REALLY good player into Omer Asik and a whole lot of nothing that we don't have roster spots for.

 

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We should add draft picks whenever possible. For one thing, they come in very handy in trades. For another thing, Morey gets good value out of them. If we had four 1st-rounders plus our 2nd-rounder, I expect DM could come up with a couple of Patrick Pattersons and a Martin. A future version of Martin, of course.

As for the "whole lot of nothing" you were talking about, I agree, but the rest looks like an interesting starting point. Cut me some slack - FWIW, I grew up in Alief.

 

Oddly nobody is ever interested when Morey comes calling. Either others have grown not to like his deals or he is a horrible sales person who comes off as desperate even if his deal are stellar deals for the other team involved.