Now that there are a few folks here on Clutchfans questioning the pick of Royce White due to his medical circumstances affecting his availability in pre-season, and the uncertainty of his availability for games during the season I put together this hypothetical thread. Not jumping the gun, or knee jerking...this thread is for general knowledge (and possible 'I told you so' bragging rights at the end of season) I know that if we didn't take Royce, we may not have gotten Terrence Jones, but assume for the purpose of this exercise that we still took T.J. No one is questioning Royce White's talent, which I believe is a rare blend of size and skill, and I am also rooting for this kid to make it, but as I just mentioned...this thread is in response some of the posters here on Clutchfans starting to feel uneasy about Royce being a wasted pick, or not having a place on this team due to the depth... So easy question who would you have taken, and why. My picks are in Bold. 2012 Draft Spoiler 1. Hornets Anthony Davis PF, Kentucky 2. Bobcats Michael Kidd-Gilchrist SF, Kentucky 3. Wizards Bradley Beal SG, Florida 4. Cavs Dion Waiters G, Syracuse 5. Kings Thomas Robinson PF, Kansas 6. Blazers Damian Lillard PG, Weber State 7. Warriors Harrison Barnes SF, North Carolina 8. Raptors Terrence Ross SG, Washington 9. Pistons Andre Drummond C, UConn 10. Hornets Austin Rivers G, Duke 11. Blazers Meyers Leonard C, Illinois 12. Rockets Jeremy Lamb C, UConn 13. Suns Kendall Marshall PG, UNC 14. Bucks John Henson F, UConn 15. 76ers Maurice Harkless SF, St. John's 16. Rockets Royce White SF, Iowa State 17. Mavericks Tyler Zeller PF, North Carolina 18. Rockets Terrence Jones SF, Kentucky 19. Magic Andrew Nicholson PF, St. Bonaventure 20. Nuggets Evan Fournier SG, France 21. Celtics Jared Sullinger PF, Ohio State 22. Celtics Fab Melo C, Syracuse 23. Hawks John Jenkins G, Vanderbilt 24. Cavs Jared Cunningham G, Oregon State 25. Grizzlies Tony Wroten PG, Washington 26. Pacers Miles Plumlee PF, Duke 27. Heat Arnett Moultrie PF, Mississippi State 28. Thunder Perry Jones III SF, Baylor 29. Bulls Marquis Teague PG, Kentucky 30. Warriors Festus Ezeli C, Vanderbilt 31. Bobcats, Jeffrey Taylor, Vanderbilt; 32. Wizards, Tomas Satoransky, Spain; 33. Cavs, Bernard James, Florida State; 34. Cavs, Jae Crowder, Marquette; 35. Warriors, Draymond Green, Michigan State; 36. Kings, Orlando Johnson, UC Santa Barbara; 37. Raptors, Quincy Acy, Baylor; 38. Nuggets, Quincy Miller, Baylor; 39. Pistons, Khris Middleton, Texas A&M; 40. Blazers, Will Barton, Memphis; 41. Blazers, Tyshawn Taylor, Kansas; 42. Bucks, Doron Lamb, Kentucky; 43. Hawks, Mike Scott, Virginia; 44. Pistons, Kim English, Missouri; 45. 76ers, Justin Hamilton, LSU; 46. Hornets, Darius Miller, Kentucky; 47. Jazz, Kevin Murphy, Tenn. Tech; 48. Knicks, Kostas Papanikolaou, Greece; 49. Magic, Kyle O'Quinn, Norfolk State; 50. Nuggets, Izzet Turkyilmaz, Turkey; 51. Celtics, Kris Joseph, Syracuse; 52. Warriors, Ognjen Kuzmic, Spain; 53. Clippers, Furkan Aldemir, Turkey; 54. 76ers, Tornike Shengelia, Belgium; 55. Mavericks, Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette; 56. Raptors, Tomislav Zubcic, Croatia; 57. Nets, Ilkan Karaman, Turkey; 58. T'wolves, Robbie Hummel, Purdue; 59. Spurs, Marcus Denmon, Missouri; 60. Lakers, Robert Sacre, Gonzaga. Obviously I like the size that Melo & Zeller and believe that Fab Melo would've been the perfect fit for this team. I also believe that Arnett Moultrie, Perry Jones III and Sullinger (to a lesser extent) would have made a decent impact on our team. Who knows, Royce White might end up playing 82 games, win ROY and all this pre season worry and trepidation will become a distant memory. But just for fun...who would you have taken, conversely are you happy with the Royce White pick, and knowing what you now know would you still have taken Royce if you were the GM?
Although i am pleased with our draft, if there were a chance to do it again, i still would have taken Jeff Taylor.
I had hoped we would've taken Zeller, as our lack of center depth is apparent and worries me. But, I have faith in the Rockets management, and feel Royce White has the potential to be something great in the league.
If we had came out with Zeller Lamb and Jones, it would of been the best draft ever for the Rockets. But two out of three ain't bad.
I would have liked Lamb, Andrew Nicholson and Jae Crowder, in this order. Lamb's a no brainer and is the most nba ready player in the whole draft IMO. I wouldn't be surprised if he beats out Martin (who is an excellent SG himself) for the starting SG spot by the end of year and could become an All Star who could excel at both ends of the floor in a few years once his body fully fills out. The latter two are real big men with actual back to the basket post skills. I think Nicholson would turn out to be a very fine starting PF who could be a go to option in the post which is sorely missing in this current team. Crowder's undersized but he's a hardworking hustle type who could just flat out produce, someone like Scola and would be an excellent option off the bench for this team IMO.
I'll admit I wanted to come out of the draft with Rivers, JonesIII, TJ.... thats who i wanted.... Draft Board for our picks went like this: 12th: Rivers(if he was there) Lamb(if he was there) Perry Jones, Terrence Jones 16th: Perry Jones, Terrence Jones, Moultrie, Zeller(although I'll admit it was only cause he was a 7footer), Leonard 18th: Perry Jones, Terrence Jones, Moultrie, or Wroten
Since we are thin at the 5, I would have preferred 1 of the following with our 3 1st round picks: 1. Tyler Zeller(& Cody next year) 2. Fab Melo(We missed out on the other Melo from Syracuse) 3. Festus (geter done Matthew) Ezeli I did not want Royce White, because he's an under-sized pf & we are loaded with pf's.
12: Lamb(still can't believe he was available) 16: Wroten 18: Fab Melo Am extremely satisfied with our picks though, always liked T. Jones. Just think it was bad considering our amount of PFs, no matter if a Dwight deal was in the works.
It is waaaaaaaaaay to early for this conversation. There is still a strong chance the Rockets and White will work things out. He showed flashes in the summer league and everyone was salivating over his potential. I think the bottom line is, given we had 3 first round picks, the Rockets could afford to take a gamble on one of the picks and pick based on upside/star potential which White has. I don't have any problem with their draft strategy especially since it isn't like that was the only shot we had. If Lamb and Jones turn out to be solid pick-ups (which it seems they are), then we already won this years draft, given our draft position. I'm excited to see White get in the mix as he is a unique talent. People are geetting greedy but drafting 2 great guys is already better than most other teams. If I had to play along, maybe a safer pick would've been Zeller in White's spot since we obviously needed a backup C. that is all.
I would have gone with either Terrence or Perry Jones at 16 and Melo at 18. Can't argue Lamb at 12. My pipe dream would have been getting Drummond and Lamb in that draft.
Fab Melo would've been perfect for throwin down oops a la Tyson Chandler. I still like White though, it (anxiety) won't be as much of an issue once he gets some NBA regularity down.
