If Morey decided to go after the #2 to start a serious conversation it probably would take D-Mo Parsons #14 and #16 And D-Mo is not far behind Robinson in potential. A completely different kind of PF though. Higher potential than Sully but not at Robinson's level. And I cannot understand why people would want Robinson when D-Mo is coming over. Historically the price of trading up for high draft picks is a fools game. The only exceptions to this are franchise cornerstones. LBJ, Howard, and probably this year Davis. I recommend reading the following post. It is a serious statistical analysis of the relative value of draft picks. http://www.82games.com/barzilai1.htm
Could you explain why you are so high on Lilliard? He is not tall enough to consistently slot in at the 2 and realistically has never played a PG. He was so much better of an athlete than anyone in the Blue(Big?) Sky conference he shouldered most of the offensive burden. He has no proven track record of playing the point. If you doubt my opinion please read the scouting reports (nbadraft draftexpress).
Kevin Love is better now than Scola has ever been, PERIOD. And it isn't even close. You're comparing a star to a role player. He's a better offensive player and a monster on the backboard. Luis has never been the rebounder Love is. Love is a beast and injuries really hurt the T'Wolves playoff run. Nobody knows what Motiejunas can do offensively or otherwise. But if he's as good as Love offensively than Morey has a steal on his hands.
Why do Rocket fans do this to themselves? If we had a player like Kevin Love, then we would've been a little bit higher than 9th place in conference. Steady go-to guy who can rebound.
Can you please read? I just said we'd be a 7th seed this year instead of a 9th seed. That's a 4-5 more wins over a full 82 game season, very significant improvement. And what would've that gotten us? An ass kicking by the Thunder? Great. Mission accomplished. And that's Robinson's CEILING, not what he's likely to become. I wouldn't give him more than a 10-20% chance to be Love. So at his best, Robinson would make the Rockets 1st round fodder. I don't want the Rockets to fail every year in the first round. I want them to be a contender.
So basically, you're advocating the Rockets trade all their assets for a player that has a small chance of becoming someone that can get us "a little bit higher than 9th place." But that someone who with mediocre surrounding cast is a lottery team. I want players that truly impact the team if I'm going to give a King's Ransom for said player. That's why I'd give a ton for Dwight Howard. And I'd be willing to give a lot for a player that may become him, say Drummond if the Rockets feel his issues are solvable. Or Anthony Davis who's of course untouchable.
Trading up to get the #2 and taking Robinson would be foolish given the small difference in potential between him and D-Mo. If you are aiming that high, which I certainly don't advocate - see my posts at the top of this page - you probably have to go with a Drummond. You have Chandler in place, hopefully Dragic signed, Martin and Lee, and D-Mo and Scola. The only position that looks barren of young talent next year is the center. I am not advocating this - the downside to Drummond is somewhere just above rock bottom. But he does have huge upside potential.
If we get the 2nd pick, I say we go after T Rob because he's more dominant and has the star potential the Rockets desperately needed. Beal is a stud also but he's only 6'3 at the SG position, a little undersize so it would be harder for him to go against bigger and faster guys in the NBA. If we get Beal, I say the Rockets put him in the PG position so he can dominate against other PGs in the NBA. Like OKC did with Russel Westbrook who was a SG in college, he slide him over to the PG position and it took him a few years to get comfortable and now he's playing at a high level. We can have Beal play both PG and SG and he would be successful. But if we get the 2nd pick, I say we grab the best player available and go for Thomas Robinson. Let him start for a year and develop our young players and then hopefully next year, the Rockets can be in the top 5 or hopefully top 3 in the lottery and grab another star potential player. Then within a few years with enough experience and good pieces added, the Rockets can be a playoff contenders finally. If they don't try to do that and continue to go this same route, we'll be stuck in the same mediocre position on and on and get stuck with yet another 14th pick and more average role players added to the team. I don't know about you guys but I rather the Rockets tank and rebuild than go another route of mediocre because I am getting tired of this same route the Rockets have been stuck in for the last 3 years.
If you want the Rockets to be contenders, having one player is not enough. Every contenders in the NBA have at least 2 stars. The Rockets surely cannot do it with one. I say the Rockets draft a player like Thomas Robinson and let him develop and all the young players on the team develop. Then after the next season, the Rockets would be a lottery team with a high pick and draft another player with star potential and build around those 2. The OKC did that and look at where they are now. They drafted Durant and let him develop and they had one of the worst record in the NBA. Then they had another high lottery pick and they drafted Russel Westbrook and let him develop, then after that they drafted James Harden and they let the 3 players develop together with the young team that they have. They added a few key pieces around those 3 and now they are contenders. It doesn't matter if we get a player like Dwight Howard. The Rockets still need another star player to play alongside Dwight plus an X-Factor to go along with them. Plus the way Dwight Howard is right now, Im not sure if I want him. The way he's acting in Orlando is immature plus he doesn't want to come to Houston. He have one more year on his contract so its not worth risking to trade for him and have a one year rental with Dwight Howard and watch him leave after one year and we'll be stuck in the same mediocre position all over again. So its not worth it.
Wasn't that the case with both Steph Curry and Westbrook coming outta college? Both played the 2 and had to transition to the point.
This^^ Me too. I also have a feeling the Rockets won't make a big move this offseason and just go with the flow again. For the last 3 seasons, Im used to Morey not able to pull off a big move and just drafting the 14th pick and stick with it. He would probably make a few small trades and play it safe again.
I hear ya, but Lillard's release point is really low. May have a hard time getting off his shot against pro guards.
Can DMo not play center? I don't see the problem in having both he and Robinson....they can play together, if necessary. Plus, Dmo will have a tougher time adjusting to the NBA than Robinson, more than likely anyway. It's not like we're getting Sullinger and Robinson at the same time. Both have great potential, so there's no reason to avoid this combo over similar potential.
Why sure. 24pts a game 5rbds and 4assts Intense on the ball defender We need that type of play off the bench behind Dragic.
I remember last year everyone was saying that this year's draft class was supposed to be much stronger than last year's draft. If that's the case, then why are all these teams so willing to give up their top draft picks in favor of trades? Seem like outside of Anthony Davis, nobody gives a shit.
I heard that Thomas Robinson is a more athletic version of milsap or a better offensive version of faried... I think he should be the target I think he could be better than derrick favors ... He's the best risk reward guy. So I'd like him but if morey drafted mkg, beal odor Drummond I would be okay with it ... I trust him with that. Beal looks like he will at least be joe Johnson like.
Media and front office people have been saying it's a deep draft but without stars after the no.1 pick. Fans have cotton on to the deep draft part and think it's filled with star potential from 1 to 30.
The value in this draft is using our picks to trade for a superstar big man already established in the league. And in the process, if we can pick up a low first round draft pick and draft a guy like Nicholson or Jeffrey Taylor would be over the top. Once again, we need a dominant player and we need a big. If you can solve both of those needs by trading for one guy, then the talent choices to fit around him are numerous. We need to trade everything it takes for Dwight, sign Dwill, re-sign Goran, then but or trade for either a late first rounder or a couple early second rounders to pick up role players that can shoot the fire out of the basketball and play good D.