Royce White in serious play for the Rockets at 14 and 16

$2 is better than nothing. You broke even, instead of losing $2.

 

Just admit it. We have nothing. Donatus is nothing more than the next Pete Chilcutt. Ok with probably better rebounding and defense. Actually I think thats pretty good. I like him now. Get him over here MOREY!

 

It really doesn't matter where DMo was drafted, jeez, the two years previous to his draft year, each time he was mocked in the top 3/top 5, until he withdrew.

He fell down to 20, due to people saying he wasn't a hard worker, he lacked with rebounding and the like.... he obviously has worked tremendously on his rebounding over the past year and has developed his game more to fix those questions.

I'm not saying he is going to be a superstar but he has POTENTIAL to be an allstar-type player... let's not sell ourselves short... "oh he was JUST drafted at pick 20, let's expect another david andersen... yadadada"

 

I don't think he understood the context of it. I sort of called out a poster who said Corliss Willliamson's NBA career sucked. When in reality, he was solid and steady NBA talent for 12 years and most of those as regular contributor. Above all, he has been one of the more successful NBA picks at #13 over the last 25 years or so.

There is alot of data out there that shows your chances of grabbing a quality player drops somewhat after the top 5 and significantly after the top 10.

It's kind of unreasonable to expect a #13th pick or lower to become a future superstar or even an perennial NBA all-star.

If some teams drafted more solid players, then they'd be in better position than they are.

I haven't been too hard on Morey, because alot of his picks and trades at worst have been solid. I don't think poster realize how hard it is to pull a superstar without the right pieces (and a superstar's desire to play for a certain team) or wishing upon the stars that one of the rookies turn into an all-star or superstar.

 

He still isn't a highly touted player or hyped up talent in the general sense. The only places I hear of talk about him are on here and sometimes in Euro league games. Most of all, I tried to emphasize the point in the sense, if Morris, Motiejunas, or Patterson were to have an NBA career comparable to Corliss Williamson. It would not be a bad thing, and in fact a good outcome. What's funny about that, the two active NBA players aren't even as good as Corliss Williamson, right now, while the other player has yet to play one NBA game. Most of all, each player was a lower pick than Williamson in possibly weaker drafts.


Also, don't twist me words, I did not say that he would turn into David Anderson, but I am not oblivious to the fact that he could and he still was not drafted very high. There's no way on this planet that he could be a bust in the same way as say the top 6 picks in this year's or last year's draft could be. Even, if he ended up the worst player in the league. I don't think you will ever see him on an all time list of the NBA's most notorious busts of all time.

It makes no sense to hype lower tier players.

 

He said in an interview that he thanked his grandfather for driving him to all of his games.

 

See: DeAndre Jordan type range:grin:

 

David Anderson has skills...just hasn't been given the opportunity needed to showcase them.

 

6'7" PF........just what we need!

 

He's a Point Forward, a catalyst that can make the other guys on the floor better. That's his value. If you have the shooters and post-up players to go along with that then he could be very valuable.

But as much as I love to watch him play, he's probably not a value pick at 16

 

Kidding right?
White is extremely explosive. He jumps up and over guys and pounds home dunks in their face. I like the LArry Johnson comparison, except Larry had a better shot.I actually think White is more athletic than Johnson.

 

I think someone mentioned Anthony Mason, which looks like a good comparison to me. Not too tall, but thick. Good handles. Tough inside.
I'd take that with #16.

 

The problem with the middle of the first round is you usually end up with a guy that is a pretty good college player because he does everything above average. I'm thinking of the Marcus Morris, Patrick Patterson, Ike Diogu, Rashad McCants, Kirk Snyder types.
They do things at a good enough level to look better than the rest of the guys in college.
None of them have one outstanding skill, which you need in order to do well in the pros. You need to be an elite shooter, or lock-down defender, or glass-cleaning rebounders, or shot blocker extraordinaire, or something.

Royce White has a couple of exceptional skills that not a whole lot of guys have. I could see him coming in and starting from day one for a lot of teams. He is a playmaker that is athletic and can finish. You can isolate him, and it is going to be extremely difficult for most defenders to keep him out of the lane. He has good vision and good passing skills. I think his skill set will play even better in the NBA than it did in college when defenses can do whatever they want to shut down lanes.

I would love it if the Rockets drafted this guy. He's not Marcus Morris. He's not Patrick Patterson. He has an elite skill that those guys do not possess.

 

Hell, just plug him in at SG and see what happens. I bet he'll do fine defensively. I didn't watch any Iowa St games live, but based on his video I have no idea what people are seeing when they claim he has limited lateral movement. He looks spry to the side in my opinion.

He may not have a true position in the NBA, but in our staff's eyes that might be something undervalued in the game today since no one can pigeonhole his game into a particular role. If you want to look at his ceiling, watch Lebron in these playoffs, guarding whoever he needs to whenever he needs to. He took on Rondo when Rondo was hot. When Boston went small he played Garnett. Offensively he had the ball in his hands whether he was a PG or a PF.

I think our team has enough complementary players. We need someone who can break a defense down with the ball, either dribbling or passing or shooting. In retrospect I liked the Marcus Morris pick, because even if he doesn't pan out the Rockets don't have their hands tied by picking him. It reflected a change in philosophy (finally) of going after high ceiling rather than high floor. If he works, you have a new centerpiece to build around. If he doesn't, you cut ties promptly and move on. White represents another chance to do that.

It's like Willy Wonka. How the hell are we gonna get a golden ticket if we ain't eating no candybars???

 

I would love to get White, I think that he is one of the few guys in this draft that could turn out to be an elite player.

That being said, I have to disagree about the explosiveness. White isn't a bad athlete but he's nowhere as explosive as Larry Johnson in his prime. I saw Larry Johnson (Dallas Skyline) compete against LaBradford Smith (Bay City) in a half-time dunk contest of a high school all-star game at Autrey Court. Johnson brought down the house by dunking after taking off from the foul line. LJ was a rare combination of athleticism and power.

As I said, it's not that White is a bad athlete, it's just that Larry Johnson had elite athleticism.

BTW I agree with your statement about White possessing an elite skill. He also has the ability to make teammates better, which is a trait that most superstars possess.

 

must be in your own dream

 

I hope we get either Royce White, PJ3, or Austin Rivers.. one of these guys will turn out to be a star.

 

Dont really know much about him but from what im reading he seems like he would be a good pick at #16, I like all the comparisons im hearing, plus if shooting is really one of his only weaknesses then that's fine. Shooting is the easiest thing for players to improve once they get in the NBA, that's why I think Chandler Parsons has such great upside, he has all the skills other than a great shooting touch but if he develops that then he can be a force!