I live out of state and I don't have NBA TV, so I've seen only a couple of Rocket games this past year. At long list, the Rockets picked a kid who actually got to see the floor. Yet I hear his name bandied about in all this trade speculation. Is he or is he not a keeper? Why or why not? Ignore the double entendre of the thread title...
Um in the beggining of the season he was hitting a lot of 3's, then he calmed down and hit the rookie wall missed a lot of shots, then started driving to the hoop more and taking mid range jumpers and started improving again. Could improve more. Not necessarily a superstar but could become an important part of our roster in the future.
...should be capable of being a solid rotation player on a Championship level team for years,perhaps a starter.
I actually like Luther a lot. He's got the tools to be a very good scorer. First off he's shown that he can be a very hot 3 pt shooter, and clutch too. He's got a mid-range pull-up, can finish on the baseline. And later on in the season, he showed a nice floater that was pretty much nonexistant earlier in the year. So he obviously worked on it. His defense was a bit hit or miss this past year, but that's understandable for a rookie. If he can just improve his handle, then Luther would be exactly the type of role-playing, "just pass it to yao or t-mac and get out of the way" PG that we thought the Rockets wanted before they went out and got Rafer "Traditional PG" Alston. Otherwise, if he's going to continue being an undersized SG, then he needs to gain some more strength to deal with bigger 2s, and learn to be more assertive on offense and attack the basket more.
Even as a rookie, the kid was one of the better defenders on the team. He far exceeded anything expected of him as rookie. As was mentioned earlier he hit a rookie wall, and his blistering start from beyond the arc slowed down dramatically. As with most trades, it would depend on what we could get for him. I doubt we could get value to match his potential. He has fundamentals, and shown a willingness to adapt when things aren't working. Most likely I would say to keep him. If he is needed in a blockbuster trade that will put the Rockets over the edge, then we can deal him.
What I like most about Luther is that he shows a clear passion for winning and playing the game. Also, he seems to make a high percentage of shots which are taken in the last 2 seconds of a quarter, half, etc. Coupled with his early hot shooting, leads me to believe he can become an effective clutch shooter. He definitely will run into problems due to his size though. He's more of a 2 than a 1, so he'll trouble with all the superstar 2-guards in this league. I would hold on to him for a couple more years and see what happens.
Not sure if anyone knows that he made the All Rookie Second Team. I never saw it posted but I didn't want to post it myself. If someone thinks it should be posted like I do then go for it. I think it is a much bigger accomplishment than many people give him credit for. Look at the names on the list and realize that Luther was the 24th pick. You will be surprised when you see the improvement that Luther will have next year if given the playing time again. He is probably working very hard on the floater and driving hard to the basket which are really his only weaknesses. Obviously defense isn't great but he will improve over time. If he can develop that 10 foot floater similar to Parker he will be hard to stop. http://www.nba.com/rookies/allrookie_060504.html Player Team First (2 pt) Second (1 Pt) Total Chris Paul New Orleans 29 - 58 Charlie Villanueva Toronto 27 2 56 Andrew Bogut Milwaukee 26 3 55 Deron Williams Utah 18 10 46 Channing Frye New York 17 11 45 2005-06 T-Mobile NBA ALL-ROOKIE SECOND TEAM Player Team First (2 pt) Second (1 Pt) Total Danny Granger Indiana 14 15 43 Raymond Felton Charlotte 14 12 40 Luther Head Houston 4 20 28 Marvin Williams Atlanta - 15 15 Ryan Gomes Boston - 14 14
If he can learn to play some point guard, then he might be a solid rotation player. A Bobby Jackson type of pg off the bench that can get off quick jumpers. If not, he will be destined to be a Wesley wanabe. He's much too small to have any real chance at playing the 2-guard, and doesn't have the strength that Wesley has. The Rockets are going to have a fun time this off-season, figuring out who they want to keep in the backcourt. There's Mike James, Sam Cassell, Head, Sura, Rafer, V-Span, Wesley, and of course our draft pick. On pure talent alone, we should probably drop Sura and Wesley, forget about Cassell, pick up Mike James, maybe trade Rafer + Swift for anything, keep Head as a back up, bring in a solid SG in the draft, and bring in V-Span. Mike James/Head/maybe Rafer Draft Pick/V-Span/Bowen/Head McGrady/Bowen (not Rybo)/Draft Pick Howard/Maybe someone we traded Swift and rafer for/maybe Swift Yao/Mutumbo
sorry, I couldn't resist. But he's a great athlete, but needs to work on his dribbling big time. The man can not dribble w/his left.
That about sums it up I'd say regarding his future as a starter. His absolute best case scenario would be as a starter at the point, but I doubt he will ever become comfortable enought there to do it, although I think he has a better shot at it than Wesley could. More likely he will be a combination point guard/shooting guard off the bench. His best qualities: ***He's a clutch 3-point shooter. He could actually help bring back some meaning to the name of this website. -He can get steals. He has good anticipation, and speed on defense, which lets him pluck quite a few. -Fairly consistent in most aspects of the game. You won't see him completely disappear on any night like a lot of rookies. His worst qualities: -His 3-point shooting. We'll see how he bounces back from the rookie wall. Can he regain that shooting percentage from the beginning of the season? -Size. He can be posted, which means he's in Wesley's shoes on defense. It also means he won't be making any spectacular drives against athletic defenders.
He is exactly what a contending team is looking for He is like the Robert Horry of our team He is one of the few rookies that did not turn into busts last year
