http://nbadraft.net/nba-mock-draft-51 If we end up with this haul (with no trades), I'd be pretty damn ecstatic!
Yes, this would be an acceptable scenario. Can someone with a little more college knowledge breakdown Marquis Teague vs. Kendall Marshall.
The short breakdown: Marshal - NBA passing skills. Classic PG with great vision and court awareness. Makes everyone on the court around him MUCH better. Has to work on the jumper a lot to be effective in the NBA. There is doubt that he has the lateral quickness to defend many NBA PG's. Does not have the first step to be a very good penetrater. Teague - near perfect size for an NBA PG. Athletic skills and lateral movement phenomenal. Some doubt his awareness and court vision. Decent shot that needs work though. Difficult to assess due to the talent level on the court with him at Kentucky. Basically if you took and melded them together you might have a different #1 pick this year.
Need height and athleticism, not NBA ready forwards and skilled guards. Those type of players are a dime a dozen. Either move up for Meyers or take Henson or Perry Jones.
Everybody seems to want to draft power forwards. What is up with that? We stashed Motiejunas in Europe for a year and so someone would be riding the bench. My bet is that it would be Henson or Jones.
It would be okay if we could move Scola and/or Patterson in a deal to get different assets (draft picks, whatever)
I would be very indifferent...... I wouldn't like it, but I've decided not to straight up hate picks until I actually see them play for us.
Just saw that this mock draft still had Marshall and Perry Jones still on the board. I would much rather come away with those two players than the two listed for us.
The real point is that Marshall will never ever have Teague's athleticism. There is hope that Teague might develop some of Marshall's fabulous PG traits. See the earlier post that compares the 2 currently.
this would b a terrible haul for our two picks. with our current roster, it would be a waste of a pick if we took players who have aready reached their potential. Sullinger will not get much better than what he is. He will never become Kevin Love because of his height. i think if things fall into place he could b slightly better than Blair. Another undersized PF??? no thanks. As for Teague, this pick would b good at 26, not 16. reaching way too much. If Perry Jones is there, you have to grab him. Absolutely destroyed at the combine. Could b an Ibaka with the right coaching. You could start Jones and Donuts with Donuts being a stretch 5. this would only work if both of them are slightly above average rebounders.
The Rockets need players with height, length, and athleticism, and there are players who meet those requirements. They might be projects, they might need to bulk up, they might need to toughen up, but they wouldn't be falling out of the top five if there wasn't something holding them back, and you can't teach height or length. There is no excuse for not going all out to get Drummond, Meyers, Perry, or Henson, none. They might all be bust, but we have enough NBA ready players, and Morey has never had trouble acquiring guards. Of the four, Drummond is out of reach, but that leaves three other players, and Morey has his "assets". Meyers or Perry or Henson Make it happen, Boy Wonder!
NBAdraft.net has been a headscratcher with their mocks - I used to like them, but don't trust any of their projections at this point. I can't fathom Sullinger or Perry Jones falling as far as they have them dropping. It would stun me if Sullinger fell out of the top 8 or Jones III out of the top 15.
Not that I disagree entirely with your assessment, but Love and Sullinger actually compare very favorably from their pre-draft measurements. http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jared-Sullinger-5029/ http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/kevin-love-1062/links/ And they both compare favorable - better - than Paul Millsap. There is always a risk when taking an undersized, or overweight, or perceived less athletic PF. But of all PFs that fit that description, Sullinger is one of the few, like Love, who has done all he can to show that his game can mitigate those risks. Sullinger would clearly be a best available pick if he fail. And frankly, I think the value might be too high to pass up, even considering at this point in time the Rockets have Scola, Patterson and DMo as PFs, and none of those 3, nor Sullinger, can effectively man the center spot. If the Rockets really don't want him and he's there at #14, I hope they explore trading back. Surely some team will see that value. Would Boston trade #21 and #22 if he was there? Not that the Rockets need more mid/later first round picks, but just a thought.
I would like to point out a couple of things that have people worried about Jones: 1: He did not show a willingness to bang down low in college. 2: He seemed to lack aggressiveness. 3: He shied away from contact against inferior players in college. 4: He has started marketing himself as a SF even though he is 6'10"+ and weighs in at 234. Also he probably does not have the lateral quickness to guard most of the SF's in the league. Number 4 is very telling. Moving to the 3 means he does not have to go toe to toe with PF's like West Gasol, Love etc. If you look at someone like Robinson, who appears to have the classic mindset of an NBA PF, he seems to relish contact and makes it his business to gain contact around the hoop and finish through it to get the free throws. This is not what Jones does. Even against inferior competition in college he shied away from contact. At the college level it looks like it was not a strength issue (but he certainly has that) but a fear of contact. Not something you want in your lottery pick PF. Also his rebounding and shot blocking were very weak for someone with his physical talents. I actually could see him falling to the low to mid 20's.
I don't trust any draft that has Meyers, Perry, or Henson falling to us at 14. And Fab Melo sinking to the bottom of the draft? Please, you just know some GM is going to take a chance on him between ten and twenty, especially since Meyers and Zeller will be long gone by then.
