Confused Help me out? Why give pick away?

coughcoughunlessitwastogethakeemcoughcough

 

If we miss the playoffs this season, we STILL owe New Jersey a pick.

Go ask Chad Ford about "depth" of this draft. He says the 2011 Draft was actually deeper.

Make the playoffs. Still get the Knicks' pick. Also get all future Rockets picks back.

Works for me.

 

IIRC, Chicago was number 9 when they won the Rose lottery.

 

You're missing many of the points.

A) I addressed the fact that the 95 team had two superstar players. But even still, this 47 win team entered the playoffs as a 6th seed and wasn't expected to advance past the first round. Once you get to the playoffs, anything can happen. It's part of the magic.

B) But I also wasn't talking about necessarily expecting to win a championship without a superstar, only having the chance to win one while at the same time pursuing a different path toward the same goal as pro-tankers.

It's funny that you define tanking as accepting that you are rebuilding. Because though you disagree with the way that they're doing it, you can either accept that they're trying to get there without losing, or you can sulk about how 'poorly' the front office is managing the team.

Apparently, you've decided to sulk. I invite you to accept the actual approach that the Rockets are taking toward getting back to contention.

 

Tanking is self destructive. Practice isn't only what happens between games. The game itself is, in its own form, practice. If you tank the games then you start figuring you don't even have to work hard at any time on the court. If it continues it can become a team culture so to speak. Then when effort and hard work is needed you can't get it because it has become a foreign aspect. "Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect."

 

Correct. Plus, you have to think about the "If they keep the pick" scenario that you have two players picked in the 13 to 19 range + plus multiple 2nd round picks who will be fighting for roster space with- Projected 2012/2013 roster-



Lowry, (lull?)
Martin, Lee
Parsons, Bud, Morris
Scola, Patterson, (Montiejunas?)
Dalembert



Thats roughly 11 roster spots, plus 1 first round pick, and 2 second round picks. Thats not including the potential of one or more of the 09 Draft bust class's options getting picked up, and a potential free agent signing.

There comes a certain point to where you have too many rookies who wont see any playing anyways on a crowded roster. Plus the potential of signing a free agent or two in the summer. The Rockets would be FORCED to sell off one or more of their 2012 picks or trade back to future years if they dont make the playoffs.

I understand most people think that if they should stink it up and kick the ball out of bounds for the rest of the year to get a high draft pick, but my argument to that is that even if you sell off Martin and Scola for nothing, you might be surprised at the level of play you eventually get out of the bench players like Patterson, and Morris, in expanded roles to end up with a similar record anyways.

So you might as well keep value in Scola and Martin to maximize them in trade (something Morey is obviously looking to do-Ex: see Gasol trade) and play this season to win in the West to get in the playoffs. If you make the playoffs then the value in players like Scola/Martin/Lowry increases dramatically.

Thats my take on why the Rockets should make the playoffs and get the pick obligation out of the way.

 

And this year's draft, the Clippers pick won the lotto...

 

Is it irony when a pro-tanker complains about losing mediocre pick?

 

The question is, are we better off having our pick in 2012 or beyond?

It certainly hurts our flexibility to hold onto it.

 

I agree that if NJ gets Dwight because of this one single pick it will sting a bit, but a 15 to 20 1st round pick doesn't have the value to bring in a player like D12 in a trade.

However, if D12 doesn't have any interest in coming to Houston than it keeps Dwight in the East rather than with a team the Rockets will see 3+ times a year, make a team in the West stronger in the standings, and potentially see them in the playoffs.

 

At this point, it looks like we will be in the playoff mix. i underestimated how wide open the west is this year. I've been a proponent of rebuilding through the draft, but I'd probably rather watch Rocket playoff basketball, and get the NJ albatross off our neck, rather than accumulating the 13th or 14th pick. And that's exactly what we are looking at: Non-contending playoff basketball and more flexibility going forward having met our obligation to NJ, or another late lotto pick that likely won't have any more of an impact than last year's 2nd rounder is having right now. If there was a guarantee we could package multipule draft picks to move up into the top 7, I'd feel differently, but knowing how hard it is to make draft day trades, and the value teams place on high lotto picks, the odds are not great.

At this point, all we can do is root for a Houston playoff birth, and root against the Knicks' success. I'm betting the Rockets stay competitive through the rest of the season.

 

I like your thought process as well, but also something people are forgetting is the value increase your current players will get with a playoff birth and solid performance.

Who knows what kind of trades will open up if the value increases among the league with players like Patterson, Bud, Parsons, etc. whose value has been overlooked in the past by GM's.

Just another reason to root for a playoff birth, even if you dont believe this current team is a contender and want an upgrade.