Morris and Patterson have shaken my faith in our ability to evaluate/develop players. OTOH Parsons/Landry/Brooks turned out ok (as did Bud considering where he was in the draft order).
I dont think packaging our two picks to get a top 10 pick is worth it, as there are multiple spots we need improvement. This is the draft where we can get two above average players with the #14 and #16 picks, no need to try and go for a big time player, especially if its not going to be in the top 4. Lillard at the point and Leonard at the 5 would both be nice additions. Like I said earlier, if you're looking for a SG, we may even be able to trade down to snag Doron Lamb who, IMO, will have a Ray Allen type career. He shot 49% from beyond the arc his freshman year, and 47% his sophomore year. In addition to that, he has the ability to put the ball on the floor she get to the rim. His mid-range game is fantastic. When he does get to the rim, he's a solid finisher and when he gets fouled, he shoots +90% (don't know the exact % off the top of my head). I wouldn't be opposed to trading Martin to get a solid 4/5 then trading down to around 20-22 and picking up Lamb along with a solid role player to go along with the pick. Just my two cents.
All the Portland talk is based on the rumor that Portland wanted to trade out of the 1st round(#6,#11). The rumor started right before the season ended. We will probably know something after the the draft order is picked.
I wouldn't be opposed to moving up to the #6 pick if we kept the #14 or #16 pick. Trading Martin in the event we get the #6 pick would be a good move, as I think both Beal and J. Lamb aol be stars 2-3 years from now. Maybe even trade him for a solid big man and using the #16 pick, as I stated, for Leonard (my choice) or Moultrie to solidify our post game or pick up Lillard (another of my personal favorites) in the event we lose Dragic and Lowry could really put this team in a position to contend in the near future. I'm not quite caught up to speed on the NBA aspects of this team, but I do follow CBB more than the average person and this draft could have some real building potential if played right.
Draft Meyers Leonard at 14 and Royce White at 16. Leonard to back up Camby, while White can back up 1 thru 4. 2 picks, all 5 positions covered. If White is anywhere near a Lebron, Houston cannot afford not to take that chance. Other than the anxiety issues and the overexaggerated off field stuff, White has amazing upside and intangibles. With Leonard, you can't teach size, especially with that much athleticism.
I wasn't a big fan of Teague at the beginning of the season, but as the year went on he really progressed. He runs the pick and roll very well, and when be began to knock down the mid range jumper he became deadly at it. His shot beyond the arc is mediocre, but that can always be worked on. I think Houston would be better off keeping one of their two PGs they have already, and I would rather have Lillard (more of a scorer, and has range out to 26-28 feet) but depending on the trades and who we acquire prior to his selection, if we went with Teague I wouldn't be too upset. Pros: Court vision, mid range jumper, athletic, passing ability, strong finisher Cons: Lack of range, at times can have poor shot selection for the situation, lack of game management, turnovers. His negatives are all things he can improve in over the time span of his rookie contract.
I have never put the word all-stars in my mouth when judging our guys, having a team full of them is ridiculous and I not once said anything that would be close to that sentiment, you're making this up or didn't read carefully. You said it, this team is TWO stars away from contention. I don't see where we get those guys right now, Gasol or Smith are not the answer. Scola is no guy that helps you win a ring in his present form. He is terrible on D and his offense regressed. I already talked about Martin, being good on offense doesn't make up for the huge flaws(defense, court vision, mentality, no intangibles, horrible when shot is not fallin) in my opinion. Cap flexibilty goes beyongd signing FAs, you're right. But I don't see how it helps us with trades when we can't acquire sure shot stars with our assets. As I said, Bud had one good year with his 3pt% but regressed in the 2nd and now he only played 58 games. I will agree with you if he keeps his percentage up for a full season. The point I'm trying to make is that most of our guys didn't turn out the way we they should have and I don't see them as a big help. "Slightly above average" doesn't cut it if you're in the hunt for contention. What many here are missing is that the majority of the guys have defense/toughness as one of their main weaknesses. It's okay if you have one or two guys with bad defense, but you won't win when half of the team is sluggish or bad on defense.
1. Stop the Max player point for god's sake, it won't happen. Neither a big three. Cash in our chips and go young, isn't that exactly what I always say in every thread? Don't know how you try to use it as a point against me. My gripe was that you try to defend our player's flaws and act like we can win with them and a few additions. 2. I think Scola regressed and it wasn't all about playing at C. He still has glaring weaknesses at this stage of his career which he can't make up for fully. 3. K-Mart is a piece for teams that are a scorer away from serious contention because the rest of the roster can make up for his negative aspects. He's not helping a team that is mediocre. 4. Game 1: 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 fouls. Game 2: 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 fouls, zero everything else. Game 3: 7 points, 1 rebound, 3 fouls. Game 4: 4 points, 3 fouls, zero rebounds&assists. Game 5: 4 points, 2 fouls, zero everything else. Now tell me how good that was and don't reduce it to a silly "yea he missed the alley-oop" point. 5. Trying to stay competitive and making the playoffs every year is the reason we've been stuck at mediocrity for years. It's a thinking problem with Les. Like I said, going young is the only way right now. We slightly agree on that, if you would understand that we won't be able to sign any stars or max guys right now.
He's really low on draft boards, like REALLY low, but one guy I like a lot is Fab Melo. Regarding bigs, these always seem to fall into several categories: 1. Blue Chip Dude 2. The Tease (aka 90% potential, 10% production, 0% skills) 3. The Red Flag (amazing talent but low motor/health issues) 4. The Stiff (good prod, limited ceiling) Melo IMHO falls into the 5th category, the Kaizen. These guys show good improvement during the year, whether its due to better conditioning, better skillset or just hitting the gym. Last year DMO struck me as that dude, he gained a lot of notoriety due to that horrible workout video where he missed all his shots, but if you looked at his build before the year and during the draft he had bulked up a lot. This year he played in Europe and basically proved all his naysayers wrong, he answered questions about his toughness/rebounding and expended his role to main man status, even if his team was always outclassed and outgunned. Melo's the same way, he entered his freshman year a boy and went to his 2nd year a man, showing better body physique and getting 15 more minutes of PT for it. That, my friends, is the mark of a man with a drive to succeed. It can also be seen in his FT%, going from 33% to 63% during his 2nd year. He's not afraid to hit the gym and work on his game, folks, which is why I believe he's gonna be one of the best Cs in this class when all is said and done. We gotta get this guy, we play him next to DMO and we have our own Nene/Gasol combo set for the next decade.
Again you see what you want to see. 1. If you want to just ignore or give up on all your options then go right ahead. 2. We'll see next season. 3. That is essentially what I said, thank you for repeating it? 4. Uh ok? What's your point? A rookie who had to guard Kobe in the NBA finals didn't put up big numbers? Again your point of looking at this one series that happened several years ago? What about Lee in today's terms? Are you confusing all stars and near all stars with "holes" again? 5. I like to look at all my options... it's generally what people with good sense do. Lastly, have you considered there are times when it is more advantageous to go young verses staying competitive?
Hell yeah, welcome to the club....now you add in that they were going to pay Nene (according to Bima and others) $55 million....and he is like a broken down old dodge now. He was so bad he was jettisoned for fricken Javale McGhee who can't rememeber which basket he is shooting at.... Then you add in Trevor Ariza for the MLE - FAIL Terrence Williams for a first round pick - YIKES And you start to notice, that maybe, just maybe they are not all that great at finding talent or getting players with "HIGH UPSIDE" like Morey is always saying they like to stack the roster with... WHERE THE **** ARE THOSE PLAYERS DARYL ??? DD
People in the draft thread is saying that Meyors Lenord is a potential bust, but I just can't anybody passing up a 7 footer like that with post moves and a sweet touch up. Maybe he needs to bulk up.
