Ok, with the really outstanding success of James Harden this year, I got to thinking the other day, remembering that Harden was actually the player I was hoping the Rockets could somehow manage to acquire in the 2009 Draft.. somehow. What would the Rockets' fortunes have been like if we had managed to draft Harden that year somehow, instead of picking him up after his years in OKC? I am almost tempted to say that he would not be having the success he is having now, if we had picked him up from the beginning.. Well, that didn't happen, obviously. But check this out - what do the following players have in common? Hasheem Thabeet Johnny Flynn Jordan Hill Terrence Williams DeMarre Carroll Toney Douglas Jermaine Taylor Sergio Llull Jon Brockman Patrick Beverly Chase Budinger Oh, and James Harden (and let's not forget the HARDen Morey has had for Ricky Rubio as well) Did I miss anybody? Did the ROCKETS miss anybody from the 2009 Draft? Was there something in the water that year? Looking at that year's draft, I was amazed at just how much of that draft class has come through Houston, one way or another. (Granted, Brockman and Carroll were throw-ins from other deals, but still) Thrilled of course that we got Harden, and some of the other guys have contributed, but man, has there ever been a single draft year that so infatuated our GM like 2009?? Wow.. I'm sure other people must have remarked on this before, but man, what the heck Maury?
LOL ok I knew I couldn't have been the first one to notice.. I guess that means we will get Tyreke Evans one of these days.. heheh
Daryl Morey and the 2009 NBA Draft The 2009 NBA Draft. The Rockets owned 0 picks. They have now at one point had 20% (12 of 60) of the players drafted on their roster or held their rights (Llull).
Austin Daye, come on down! http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=227964 Edit- Hmm, i thought there was an existing thread about this topic, but with more discussion, i guess this wasn't it.
People forget about DeMarre Carroll, Brockman was here for a cup of coffee, and the newest edition is Patrick Beverly. I wonder how much it would take to get Austin Daye right now.
We ended up with the best player in the class of 09... Weird thing is I remember leading up to the draft and hearing Morey say he thought the draft was better than people think..... 4 years later I see a lot of garbage.... but Harden, Griffin, Curry, Lawson, Rubio and Holiday all have high value and there were also a number of role players.
Blake Griffin James Harden Tyreke Evans Ricky Rubio Steph Curry Demar Derozan Brandon Jennings Earl Clark Ty Lawson Jrue Holiday Jeff Teague Taj Gibson Few all stars...All starters...all pretty decently quality contributors. I'd say it's a pretty solid draft class.
