The Three-First Rounders

Booster,

how can the draft picks have an undesirable impact on the draft, the salaries are nearly as low as they get for the quality of player.

If we manage to land Webber through a sign and trade and some of other free agents don't re-sign, then we would have a rather depleted squad, surely the best way to fill the 8-12 spots with minimal cap damage would be through 3 rookies who could learn and get experience in their first years.

Smeg

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"Repression never did me any harm (I finally ceased to include "stop masturbating" as one of my guilt ridden New Year's resolutions, but that's a different topic)." Achebe - programmer by day, Mrs Palmers Husband by night

 

Smeg, your right. If Webber is our only free-agent acqusition then our third draft pick will be as welcomed as our first. But is this not a fact? Our three draft picks will consume about 3/4 million dollars of capspace. Couldn't that money been used to entice another free-agent, or two?

The fact is is don't think this team needs three more rookies on the bench. I don't care how much future potetntial they resonate. We need a used hub to steady this advancing wheel.

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[This message has been edited by ROCKETBOOSTER (edited April 26, 2001).]

 

Will the Rockets keep all three first round draft picks? Or will they use them to help get Webber? Or use them to move upwards in the draft? I mean they have a bevy of young players and only one player with 10+ years experience so why add three more rookies?

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Arkansas' Biggest Rocket Fan!

 

Lil Pun, many people have pointed out before that three Draft picks could have an undesirable impact on our cap space. So that obvioulsy will be a major concern when forseeing a draft strategy. This team is past the rebuilding stage and is not in need of a quantity of talent players, but in need of one player, or two, that will fit within the team immediately, complimenting what is already in progress. So I'd be very suprised if the Rockets were interested in keeping all draft picks. If they do, that may foretell, a lack of confidence in their free agent pursuits.

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[This message has been edited by ROCKETBOOSTER (edited April 26, 2001).]

 

yeah but while Langhi impresses me, Collier didnt, and yeah i realized he was hurt, but still in the very few games and minutes Langhi put up, he looks to have some qualities that may keep him around , HOPEFULLY replacing Bullard who downright just sucks. Collier looks like another ERic Meek..

I think we may need atleast one draft pick this year, with talent


GERALD WALLACE baby

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got milf?

 

True, but I would rather the Rocks look towards the future right now than trying to win right now.

And in today's NBA, 2 of those players can be worked into the rotation rather easily. If the Rocks think of themselves as a playoff-team but are looking for a ROOKIE to put them over the top, then the Rocks are fooling themselves that they are playoff worthy.

Realize that this team will look completely different in the next 2-3 years. Los, Walt, Shandon?, Mo? and Matt gone through FA, hopefully Cato moved in trade, Dream through retirement. So considering the talent in this draft, this may prove to be a good way for the Rockets to build up their talent level, with an eye towards the future.

By the time the new building opens, the only ones remaining, as the team stands pre-draft and off-season, (may) could be:

G - Steve, Cat, Mooch

F - Kenny, Langhi, (maybe Mo), (maybe Shan)

C - Collier, (oh yeah, maybe Cato )

Possibly half the current team may be gone, so why not add talent now instead of worrying about it later. And as Smeg pointed out, the draft is BY FAR the cheapest way to increase your talent level.

If all the picks do is provide depth and energy, a la Collier, then I would call the draft a success.

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I think the Rockets may want to keep all their options open. I wouldn't expect anything will happen with our picks before the lottery.

Most teams with the higher picks have rumors that they are considering a trade down, which tells me something about the draft. That and the lack of a consensurs #1 or the large number of players from HS or College FR being considered as the top picks.

I think we may need to focus on identifying what it will take to re-sign existing players before we can comfortabley commit to getting a "name" free agent. Unless we do a sign and trade with one of our free agents, I don't think we have players to give up that have significant trade vaule.

Having said that, having five developmental players scares me as well. However, considering that we will have to carry Williams and Cato under our cap, hiring draftees makes sense to me as well.

I would prefer to fill needs with free agents that we cannot draft or trade to correct. Structuring our draft assuming we can get CWebb makes little sense to me, unless we have more reason to feel confident than I know about.

As far as keeping Collier and Langhi, they make sense if our offensive scheme is to use our center to draw theirs away from the basket or to have another 3 shooter to attack a zone. I just don't know how well either of them will end up doing in that role, given the fact that neither one of them played much. I am not even certain if the "outside center" is what management even
wants, given that we seemingly went from looking for a shotblocker-type to somebody that rebounds and shoots threes within the same year.

Bottom line, with all the uncertainty in terms of the new rules, team concept, our own free agents, having enough cap space to get a "name" free agent, etc., getting the "best available player" in the draft three times in the first round makes good sense.

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