[Spanish Radio] Sergio Llull close to deciding to join the Rockets?

For what it's worth, I did some digging and it does NOT appear that the Vavel report is worth taking as gospel. I talked to a guy I trust on international hoops coverage, and he said it was the first he had heard of the site. He then asked a hoops source he trusts well in Spain about "Vavel", and they said it was not reliable.

All that said, even unreliable sources sometimes have accurate scoops. So maybe this is the exception to the rule. But I wouldn't get overly excited just yet.

 

Thanks Cat!

 

If he shoots marginally better from the field I'll take that in a second.

 

Beverley was technically a Euroleague player first...

 

Llull is a start! And although, I'm a believer in DM, I don't think he built the Rocket's Roster correctly over the past few yrs. If you are building a Run and Shoot squad, you need GUARDS, GUARD, GUARDS AND PLENTY of them! Similar to Golden State.

DM collect forwards, forwards, forwards! This was our year! There were over 10 point guards traded at the deadline and we pickup - Pablo! However, what's done is done and we can't go backwards.

However, moving forward we can't have Beverly as a starting Point Guard. If he offers the Full MLE to Llull, he has to be the starter. Personally, with everything on the line, I would go after Lowry, rather than bringing in Llull.

It takes time to get the feel of the NBA and we are in WIN NOW MODE. In addition to Lowry, I would draft the best available guard with #18, point or off guard, and sign Beverly and go from there.

 

The "Garbage Man" put up good numbers a s rook...would love his production...ok...I know someone just posted this same sentiment...I just wanted to reference the "Garbage Man" because it brought back good memories for me...sorry for the laziness.:grin:

 

I do not think it is a coincidence there are all these rumors around Llull and Tyus Jones. The Rockets are trying to keep everyone guessing.

 

I know 2 things: latin journalists never know things about NBA before american journalists do. And Scola with LLuLL are not joining the rockets.

 

I don't think there is any doubt that the Rockets want Llull to come to Houston, even though he isn't starting material IMO. As a 6th man, I think Llull would be good for us. Their interest in Tyus might be luke warm, I think someone else will be their target based on upside. Don't know who that might be.

 

I think a rumor that Morey is interested in one particular draft prospect over another is forcing other GMs to take a hard look at that prospect. THey may ridicule him but can't deny the homeruns he's hit...so sending out false rumors is a plausible tactic they may may employing. I think if Cameron Paine is there at 18, he'll be wearing red n yellow.

 

I kind of think you're looking at this backwards. When I look at that data, the conclusion I would draw is that the very best European players tend to come to the NBA early, not necessarily that coming to the NBA early is what lead to a smooth transition from Euroleague.

Llull was drafted almost 6 years ago and has been a tremendous player in Europe in the time since then. Whether he succeeds or fails in the NBA, I don't see how it would make much of a difference whether he comes this year or next (barring a major injury).

 

Here info about Llull's twitter account: https://www.facebook.com/rocketsenc...5894025486115/858781857530665/?type=1&theater

 

Dudes, take a good look at Nikola Mirotic. He came from Real Madrid where Sergio Llull is playing. Nikola became a good player in the NBA for the Bulls. Real Madrid is the best team in Europe right now they just won the Euroleague championship this year. Spain has the toughest basketball league in Europe and Sergio Llull's success and experience from there will translate well in the NBA and his passion and love for the game speaks more about his character. He'll be a solid NBA player.

 

Remember when Goran Dragic followed the Rockets for like 10 minutes? And Morey followed Dragic? And everybody thought "it's happening!!"?

 

1st NBA Game at 25 - 28 years old
Luis Scola was 27 - very good NBA player
Manu Ginobili was 25 - all-star player
Juan Carlos Navarro was 27 - failed
Sasha Danilovic was 25 - played pretty well
Dino Radja was 26 - very solid NBA player
Sarunas Marciulionis was 25 - very good NBA player
Toni Kucoc was 25 - very good NBA player
Drazen Petrovic was 25 - very good NBA player
Stojko Vranković was 27 - very spare NBA player
Nikola Pekovic was 25 - very successful NBA player
Arvydas Macijauskas was 26 - failed
Andrés Nocioni was 25 - solid roll player
Tiago Splitter was 26 - solid roll player

Navarro did not fail. He was scoring 11 points in 25 minutes through 82 games in one season. He started in 30 of those. Shot 36% from 3 in his transition to longer 3point line season (only season). He had offers to stay in NBA and unexpectedly returned back to Spain.

Most, if not all players on that list were bigger stars and better players than Llull is. Those guys are borderline legends in Europe, if not. Llull is just a solid dude.

 

I see more things I don't agree with in that list. My point is: it means absolutely nothing. Just like Ty Lawson failed BIG TIME when he moved to Europe during lockout, and he's a borderline star in NBA.

 

Also, the accounts you follow show up in reverse order of when you followed them. The Rockets are waaaaay down on Llull's list, suggesting that he followed them a long time ago and this is nothing even remotely recent -- which makes total sense, given that we've had his rights for so long. Much ado about nothing.

 

yeah i remember Navarro having some big games, especially from three...he certainly didn't fail. America and the NBA just wasn't enough of an attraction for him to stay.

 

I've heard a lot of people defend Navarro. Fair enough, but he wasn't someone that inspired anything from me. But that was not the point of the post.

The point was to point out that players from Europe that are thought of as stars almost always succeed when they come to the NBA before the age of 29 and they almost always fail when they come to the NBA at the age of 29 or after.

History tells us that Sergio Llull needs to come to the NBA this season to have a good chance at succeeding. If Llull waits another year or two, history tells us that more than likely he will not amount to much. That is not to say that he won't, just that it is highly unlikely.