.....happening for one of the weakest drafts in NBA history. Are teams really that desperate to take a shot at an unproven player when their trading one that's produced with their squad for years? Here's a list from rumors I've seen: Houston offered Courtney Lee. San Antonio has offered Tony Parker and George Hill. Indiana is shopping Brandon Rush and Dahntay Jones (meh). Lakers offering Bynum and Gasol. Suns offering Nash.
Trading Nash makes sense since Phoenix needs to rebuild and Nash is in his twilight. Trading Bynum makes sense because he's a walking injury and a huge salary cap liability. Trading Gasol makes no sense -- but then I think it was probably Minn that brought up his name, not LA. Courtney Lee could be worth it for a high pick. Tony Parker... maybe a high pick. Sounds like San Antonio is looking to rebuild as well.
Last time I heard the draft was weak was Blake Griffin's draft and we all know how that turned out: quality players from top to bottom. Looking at this draft it looks to be the same, very little to no upper echelon talent but you'll get quality guys all the way to the 2nd round.
its not because othe lockout, from what I have heard from hearing GMS talk that every year there are 100s of calls made and players talked about, its common practice around 2-3 times a year. I think the reality is just every year the media and espn ups their focus and sensationalizes everything. Every year drafts picks, more personal stories, they are more clued in to some of these calls so they just report them more and it seems like it will be a growing trend and has been as well.
Rumors are just that... rumors. Do you seriously think the Wolves would consider trading Love so they can have a more "marketable" core? The media knows people are hungry for stories leading up to the draft and they milk it. That being said, in a draft without many sure things (even in terms of role players), you'll have more teams open to listening to offers for their pick like Steve Francis noted. It's more of a crapshoot than usual and every GM wants to feel like they know who the dark horse is after a good workout or 2.
It's just insane that everyone thinks these guys going in the draft are going to be making an impact for teams. I think Morey should tank this squad and reap the rewards for next year's draft.
If the Rockets trade productive veterans to land the #2 or #4 pick, their record will fall like a stone.
Which wouldn't be a bad thing considering it might net us a better lottery pick next year. I'm all for the Rockets going into a full blown rebuilding mode and can accept a year or three of failure in order to right the ship again.
I think Morey is pulling a Kubiak/Smith. Since it might be Morey's last season, he's thinking "might as well blow it up and go all out before saying sayonara."
The whole "weakest draft in years" view is overrated. They've been saying it every year for like 5 years or something...I think what should be said is there's no clear front runners like in past drafts, except maybe for the first one or two, but that doesn't meant the rest if garbage. Far from it.
You really think the guys that are going in the top 10 would be top 10 in next year's draft? Or even last year's?
some would, this draft class is not nearly as weak as alot of people think. i'll put it this way san antonio and houston have 2 of the 3 best and brightest GM's in the league and they are willing to offer proven talent too move up.
Not just the lockout, but the new CBA. Teams might be motivated to start reshaping rosters in a way that will put them in a good stead for how the new financial structure will be working.
We hired Kevin McHale, I don't think we are in a win now mode. Morey is still apparently gathering "assets" to swing a home run in the future. When they say weak draft, they just mean it's not "star-heavy." Realistically, unless some guy explodes out of nowhere, none of these guys are all-star/franchise players materials. I think it's fairly deep, but it's not something I would get crazy over.
You cant compare drafts like that. First of all, we dont know who will be in the draft next year. Just this year you had guys like Barnes and jones drop out to make the draft weaker. Second of all, what exactly have the top 10 picks last year done? Wall, Cousins, and Monroe are the only stand outs. The only difference is that draft had Wall and cousins as sure picks. Cousins only dropped because of his attitude and last minute hype surrounding evans and favors. I dont think anyone this year is as good as Wall, but what if williams or Kanter match cousins? Then the rest of the draft isn't any better. Again, its only considered weak because it's missing an extra one or two "sure" things. That's only 2 of 30 picks. It doesn't define the other 28.
pretty much I think most teams are trying to set themselves better financially for the new CBA and not be held down by long term deals on the old CBA other teams realize the need to make a huge change after seeing what it took to win this year, esp with the way the Thunder, Mavs and Heat played. Its a damn shame really the lockout is happening because I feel this could have been a crazier summer in terms of trades and signings than last year
And i agree with that, but i dont think that's what a lot of fans get from it. They assume it means the draft as a whole is weak. I've read fans say that even guys in the top 15 won't be rotation players except for the top 5. They're not even looking at the talent available, they're just going by the assumption that the top 5 is always talent filled, everything else automatically isn't.
It's a star-driven league, so it's understandable if the interest isn't as high. A lot of these guys will be rotational players for sure, but fans always look for that "star/franchise player," just like we are. This draft won't turn around any franchises in the next few years that's for sure.
