Well, looking back... Eddie Griffin was hyped up big time in his freshman year of college. He was projected to be the #1 pick for almost the entire year until of course all those HighSchoolers declared and Kwame was picked #1. ... also, Richard Jefferson wasn't a household name... not too many knew about him. So back then, Griffin for Jefferson was a good deal. although i would never take a guy who's fought with his teammates and takes drugs. not a good character. <a href="http://68.121.172.186:82">Yao-Ming.tv</a>
They do have Colin- Colin Pine. Oh, did you mean Jason Collins? Oh, my bad, sorry. You know, every time I think of Jason Collins, that's the first thing that comes to mind, too- WOW. He'd be a starter on our squad for sure!
Agreed. I would rather have Collins and Jefferson. At this stage Jefferson is better than any of our small forward. Collins can play back up center and we can afford trading Cato, or let him play more pf. Eddie still can turn it around, but it'll be hard for someone without heart to turn it around. Let's see, if sources are true, he doesn't love playing backetball, he doesn't want money, he lies and ignores the team, so what's left for motivation? At 29, Cato took years to turn around. We might have to wait for years before Eddie shows sign of life. It's not worth it. Not the three picks, not the playing time invested that can be used to cultivate other players. The EG trade got us Yao Ming theory is just homer's justification, I mean, if a man made mistake is acceptable just because luck kicked in later on, then why don't we just keep Francis, Yao and Mobley on the IR list, so we'll hit the rock bottom this season to get another No.1 pick, championship well on the way in that case.
In rebuilding mode, you want to try to get two all-star to super-star caliber players and build around them. Unless you have Jordan, one is not enough, and Steve is not Jordan. (Hakeem was close to being enough by himself, but it's a LOT longer to put the right cast around one superstar than around two. And is a lot harder to sustain.) This was an attempt to get the second one in Griffin. At the moment, that is not looking good, but in five years it could look very different. Getting Yao doesn't make it a good or a bad decision based on information which was available at that time. However, it DOES make a difference on whether I would want to have CHANGED the decision. No way can I look back and say that I wish we had made a different decision back then. Yao is MORE than we hoped for when we drafted Eddie. Therefore, I am far more interested in what we do in the FUTURE to build the supporting cast for a championship contender with Yao and Steve as the focal points than in what kind of a team we would have with Jefferson and without Yao. (Which is what you are really speculating on. The odds are extremely high that we wouldn't have Yao if we didn't make that trade.) Figure out what to do with Eddie now. Let go of the trade and move on. (However a case can be made that taking a chance on Eddie was more justifiable than keeping three mid-to-end first rounders. If you want to build a championship team you have to take risks. And keep taking risks until you get the two players you want to build around. Fortunately, the Rockets had the guts to ignore all the trade-Yao-for-a-sure-thing talk. Sure, they could have built a playoff team without him. But our chances of building a championship contender are a lot better with him.)
If you're going to rehash something, at least be accurate. Eddie did NOT violate the league's substance abuse policy; he was caught with mar1juana, not under the influence, nor has he tested positive for weed. This had nothing to do with league policy whatsoever, and he hasn't even had his trial yet, for that matter. Collins would be the 3rd best center on our team. Whoop-de-doo. I still fail to see Richard Jefferson is the greatest thing since sliced bread despite the fact.
for the ones that are still pouting about trading away the DRAFT PICKS for griffin, take a social psychology course. it will help y'all realize how dumb people are when they show hindsight bias. it's easy to analyze things when they're said and done. what you whiners would realize when you stop sobbing over not picking RJ is that instead of drafting RJ, we could have had some of the following players: troy murphy zach randolph tony parker gilbert arenas Vladimir Radmanovic if we would have drafted FOR OURSELVES.
Shhhhh We can't talk about that here or fans get mad. Nothing wrong with the Rox. They make great trades. Know exactly which free agents to give large contracts to. Play completely unselfish ball. LaLaLaLaLaLa Raven
My favorite thing about this brand new thread re-examining the eddie griffin trade (as far as making fun of it goes) isn't that it's only the one billionth thread to do so, it's that it's quite possibly never been done so poorly before. "yeah. remember when we traded those guys for eddie griffin? man, that sucked." Profound! Thank you for you insight, sir, and welcome to the BBS.
............................................... and on other rockets UP TO DATE NEWS, rockets drafted a 7'6" chinese player, Yao Ming. He is from Shanghai, China. He played for the Shanghai Sharks in the CBA and he is prospected to be the next Kareem Abdul Jabbar. He is known for his smooth shooting skills and great passing. He is believed the next great center in Houston Rockets history following players like Hakeem Olajuwon, Ralph Sampson, and Moses Malone.
panda, it is a homer thinking, but it is the truth as well..... we might not get the first pick to land Yao if we kept the 3 picks..... and if we don't have Yao, how would Collin be the backup and we can afford to trade Cato?
There's a difference between blindly ignoring all the poor roster moves and taking the good with the bad.
We could still get Yao had we drafted those three guys instead of Griffin. RJ averaged 24 mins and 9.4 points as a rookie. Griffin 24 mins and 8.8 points. Not much difference there. Collins played only 9 games. Knowing Rudy's hatred towards sfs that can't shoot 3's and the tendency to bring rookie sfs(Langhi, Boki) slow unless absolutely necassary, RJ would pretty much spend his time riding the bench, playing behind Rice and Williams. Basically, a non factor. The team was likely on the same page or even worse substituting EG with RJ and Collins. We sucked in 01-02 due to multiple injuries to key players, not because EG played instead of RJ. Thank injuries. Looking back it indeed seemed like the will of God for so many unusual injuries and lineup changes to happen in that year, and Yao was destined to play for the Houston Rockets.
I disagree with you assessment of the Griffin trade. The jury is still out on that trade. If jefferson were with the ROX, he would be a sixth man at best. He cannot shoot a lick, like the rest of the Nets. He is good on the fast break and in a wide open game. Collins would not start for most teams in the league. He certainly would not start for the ROX. The third guy is already out of the league. So how is this already a lopsided trade? Now if Griffin quits or is drugged out as many have suspected that the tide may turn more closer to the lopside version on this trade.
