Givony: Rockets among teams exploring trading up to #1

Definitely a red flag, and not necessarily a small one.
That's one of the risks with Cade taking the haughty approach and refusing to workout for other teams.

 

I'm kind of with you here, but I don't know if SGA is a max player. His rookie contract is up next year and he's going to want max money. He's definitely a nice player, but a 3rd or 4th type guy on a good team.

 

Yes, there are some players in this draft who will make some team drafting in the top 4 regret the player picked there (Cunningham-Mobley-Green-Suggs). Even if those four pan out, you might have a Scottie Barnes type turn into your future Draymond Green (without the "your mother is a _____" comments to the refs?)

 

Great points, in response to Cade’s workout one can only assume his lack of explosiveness, foot speed, lateral quickness, and no mid range game. Again, this is really hard to find things you don’t like about this kid.

 

Well, it's probably haughtiness on loan from his agent and/or other "advisors"; I can't blame him for keeping the #1 mystique going.

 

Thunder would have to dig deeper in the draft pick bag. This is not enough to make the dog’s tail wag.

 

Why would we trade up? It’s not like the Rockets are one player away from the championship. These talking heads can suck it!

 

It depends how much Tilman or Tilman Jr want Cade and how convinced Pistons are on Cade. If the Pistons thought Cade and Green were equal, why wouldn't they want they entertain an extra pick and still get the guy they want.

 

The Rockets hope the Pistons take Cade and you can get green out of the equation

 

No , that's a little steep when we have Detroit by the balls with the pick they already owe us.

These guys talking about an "unprotected future first" ....

What's the value of that unprotected pick Vs undoing the self inflicted damage from the lotto protected pick you owe Houston that has you handcuffed thru 2027 being unable to trade future first round picks until that pick is settled.

Remember in this scenario the Cavs are adding hypothetically "the best player in the draft" to a pretty decent roster , a potential NT-MLE signing and they have plenty of ammunition to make further additions. If they win 10-12 more games that puts them in the ballpark of the 8 seed in the east - probably somewhere between picks 12-14. Not what I'd consider a premium pick.

If you are Detroit's GM which do you take:

Rockets #2 , your own pick back

Cleveland #3 and an unprotected pick

 

This is the NBA , its quality over quantity.

If you have a Lebron , KD , Harden , Curry you have a chance every year.
If you don't , you are looking for that guy.

If Stone believes one of these players is "That Guy" ..... He should go get him and pretty much damn the cost.


If you don't think any of these top 3-4 players are head and shoulders above the others , then no you stand pat at 2.

 

If I'm Detroit I'd take Cleveland's unprotected pick over my own lotto protected pick back any day. It's a toss up between Mobley and Green to me, so I don't see a huge difference between the #2 and #3 pick this year. Cleveland's roster construction leaves a lot to be desired, so even adding Cade doesn't put them into serious playoff contention IMO. At worst that pick will be #15 and at best you've got a shot at Banchero or Hardy next year.

 

If the Rockets really want Cunningham, why don't they wait till Detroit actually make the pick and then negotiate with them? It is not dead certain that Detroit will draft Cunningham, right?

 

Lets say Giannis , Dame or Kawhi is all the sudden available next year .... Detroit can't even enter the conversation because it can't trade future picks.

You don't think having the flexibility to make that kinda move is worth the difference between a 1% chance at a top 3 pick and your own pick ?

 

Assuming if you are DET you feel you can get the guy you want at #3 (otherwise this whole question is moot) you take the CLE unprotected all day long.

I agree DET has limited their trading flexibility by putting so many protections on the pick they traded us, but they still keep their pick every time it is a high lotto pick. A CLE unprotected can also be a high lotto pick.

DET can always reduce the protections they put on their own pick they sent out if they ever want to make a trade. It is fully in their control. They can also still trade swaps in the meantime if they were inclined. I think some of us are materially overvaluing trading DET's pick back to them.

 

There’s so much more to lose as a GM making an error of commission than an error of omission. As others have said, if you do the Philly Fultz mistake and trade up to #1, then that guy busts, that’s basically a career ender for a GM. But if you stand Pat, draft a 2-3 consensus guy in Mobley or Green, you have much more room for error given the acceptability of that pick at the time. Of course, if either Green or Mobley COMPLETELY bust, that still might be a career ender regardless of what the guy you didn’t pick did. But it always hurts that much more, see Jonny Flynn or Marvin Bagley. Or Thabeet over Harden. Or Oden over Durant.

 

I can't fathom a reasonable situation where Detroit should want to trade their picks for the next 3-4 years. They're in full rebuild mode. Like us or OKC they should be trying to stockpile additional draft picks, not trade them away. What would they do with a player like Giannis, Dame, or Kawhi? Win the championship? More likely waste their primes.

I'd rather bank on Cleveland's unprotected pick bearing fruit rather than have draft pick trade flexibility in Detroit's scenario. They are not a destination for stars either through trade or free agency. They'll need to draft their next star and the more shots they have at the lotto the better.

 

People are sleeping on that fact that Green would have averaged 20/8 if he went to college—with a few huge games in the mix.

I’ll take Green plus 23, 24. This is a deep draft. Exploring options is simply due diligence.

If the Rockets sense maturity problems with Green, they’ll likely trade up or down, though. Too many head cases on a team is hard to manage and they need to keep KPJ on the straight and narrow.

 

You maybe overestimating Wood just a tad.....

 

Genius! The moniker MotorCade alone is enough for Detroit Pistons to draft Cunningham. This is the real reason he wants to be drafted by the Pistons. Think about all the commercials he'll get from it.