[ClutchFans] Podcast: Rockets avoid OKC trap, land #2 pick of NBA Draft

Looking forward to listening.

 

Nice workday morning surprise.

 

I agree with Bima on many things he says in here...I do think that Green if he wasnt selected by the Rockets he could do more than 20ppg on any other top 10 lottery team...with the Rockets he might be around 18..+-2 points...

 

When that 5th pick was announced it DID feel like a playoff win!

But I didn't listen to anything Clutch said since he wanted Harold Miner over Robert Horry.

Which is fine. Mobley is probably a 14-7 guy for his first couple of years. Regrets will be had.

Let's say Mobley could be Anthony Davis (that's extremely rare among top picked big men) - that's what the biggest proponents are saying. What did the Pelicans do with AD? If Green can be Ja Morant, yes please. We can build on a guard that can play in the clutch.

Bima's first argument is to go after the "unicorn big" because guards are more common, but with higher upside always comes higher risk of bust. Hence Bennett, Kwame, Darko, Stromile, Thabeet, etc.

 

When you're drafting at #2 you don't draft role players. You draft stars when you're that high. Mobley is a very good role player. Green is the star. Green will start immediately next to KPJ.

 

Question is more: do the Rockets think Wood is ultimately going to be better than Mobley -- tough to judge right now.

That's somewhat of a "fit" question, but what to do with Wood needs to factor in to the overall roster construction. Say Houston were to be all-in with Mobley (you would have to think Porter would be pushing for it due to the USC connection, even if they didn't play together). If that makes Wood expendable, what's the best deal that could be had?

Golden State may be a potential trading partner so then the next question is would Houston consider someone like Wiseman as having more potential than Mobley?

Even if Green is selected the Wood question still comes up: adding one top-tier talent doesn't make the team a contender overnight, so trading Wood as early as draft night could still be a possibility.

 

I love Clutch basically stomping the rest of the pro-Ben Simmons-for-Harden-trade cockroaches.

His salary is too high for us to build on right now, and not trading for him arguably got us the 2nd pick this year.

 

Great points, but I personally don't think you draft for fit ever, much less as a rebuilding team. For what it's worth Bima says he could see Mobley playing (and defending) 4s with Wood at the 5.

 

Also - a great point by Bima that the Rockets slapping top-4 pick protection on this pick saved the Rockets this year. A poke in the eye to the Morey haters.

 

Thank you! This was a great pod. Always better when it’s something in the Rockets favor.

Appreciate it, guys.

I go back and forth a little too often on who I hope the Rockets take. I just hope they don’t trade the pick. Let’s go with young talent and let them grow. I’ll be perfectly fine with that.

 

Now the countdown begins for July 29th

 

I never even looked at the draft date lol. Not too far away.

 

Thanks @Clutch! I’m feeling giddy this morning, can’t wait to listen to the podcast after work…

…….
…….
…….

 

John Wall (owed 91M over 2 years)
for
Ben Simmons (owed 140M over 4 years)
plus 2 FRPs (top ten protected) and 2 SRPs.

 

Well we dodged one bullet this year in the CP3 / Westbrook trade. Now there is the 2024 1st round pick, 2025 swap, and 2026 1st round pick to go. I saw 2024 and 2026 are top 4 protected, and the 2025 swap is top 20 protected. Man but last night was such a relief to end up with a top 4 pick.

 

Starting to listen now. Almost an hour of @Clutch and @BimaThug! Unbeatable!

 

I hadn’t been that excited since before game 7 with the warriors.

 

Swish

 

Niiice