Also leaving glaring weaknesses increases the odds of getting another top pick next season and the one after. As if designing a team to fail the next few seasons as the team gradually gets older while replacing the vets from trades as their contracts end with FA's that fill specific needs on the team that haven't been filled by as you said drafting the BPA.
Yeah except we still got Armoni and Khyri who are more than capable of filling up that third back up role.
I do think JT should be taken at the 24th . Todd isn't as good as JT, but he does have some upside. Springer is an okay 23rd pick. One safer pick and one upside pick should be the way to go. Moving down to the 27th and 44 for the 24th , is a good idea too. Get a center at 44. NQ, CB might be available at 44.
I'm not going there .... just saying that what I read was that he hadn't been able to schedule workouts with any team , it very well could be COVID related , I'm not sure. But not being able to work out for these teams .... doesn't seem like that would propel him upwards....
An ambitious kid, isn't he, and apparently moving up in the draft. I'd be thrilled to grab Usman Garuba as our Euro and call it a day. Very slim chance that we can get either one, however.
So you guys are both right. You don't draft or need when you're initially starting to rebuild. When you're in a state such as the Rockets you draft BPA. If you are a team that's halfway through a rebuild you probably start to weigh the pros and cons of each individual athlete in their fit within your club. You also have less draft assets at that point as you start to fill in with better players. So as you start to weigh athletes fits you can move up and down the draft to accumulate more assets to better set yourself up continually for the future. When you're in the Rockets position this year, you have tons of assets, if you need to just take best player available in order to start to build that foundation. 3 years from now, we should hopefully have three foundational players. Maybe we'll have five. If that's the case, you're in a situation where you now need to find your weakest link and start to replace that.
2021 NBA Draft: Ranking the best defensive skills, led by Davion Mitchell and Evan Mobley Point of attack defense on perimeter 1. Davion Mitchell, Baylor Mitchell is one of the best point-of-attack defenders I’ve evaluated, a total monster on defense who is as disruptive a player as you’ll come across. He’s tenacious and genuinely attacks the ballhandler with pressure. There are no easy dribbles when he’s around because of his high-pressure, high-energy attitude. He crawls up into an offensive player’s handle but doesn’t ever get beaten. Mitchell’s lateral quickness is elite. Even if an opponent catches him leaning one way, he has the ability to slide back quickly into position and recover. This also allows him to be aggressive on closeouts, knowing he can get back in front. And because of his strength, you can’t go through him. He’s so solid through his torso that he can absorb contact well without fouling. And even more essential? He does a great job of fighting through screens. He navigates them well with his footwork and anticipation for where they’re coming from. Plus, his hands are so active. Turn your back on Mitchell and he’ll poke for a steal. He’s excellent at the strip swipe as players load to shoot. He has the potential to be a top-five on-ball defender in the NBA. He’ll stick in the NBA for sure because of this skill. 2. Marcus Garrett, Kansas 3. Jalen Suggs 4. Miles McBride, West Virginia 5. Jaden Springer, Tennessee Switchable perimeter defense 1. Herb Jones, Alabama Jones is one of my favorite overall defenders in the class, in part because he’s so good in so many different situations. At 6-foot-7 with a 7-foot wingspan, he has perfect measurements to be a versatile chess piece for coaches on that end. He has the quickness and agility to cut drivers off with his speed. He’s very balanced, and he uses his length to disrupt players. Jones is also extremely switchable because of that balance mixed with length and quickness. He’s a bit skinny to guard fives, but teams could toss him on anyone one through four and allow him to use his length to contest and stay in front. Plays aggressively, but movements are smoother and swifter, as opposed to being in your face. He’s disruptive and acted as a stopper for Alabama this season. But to be elite in terms of switchability, there is also an aspect of off-ball defense and overall team communication. Jones is very communicative out there in switches and in rotations, especially when he’s on the backline. 2. Scottie Barnes, Florida State 3. Yves Pons, Tennessee 4. Trey Murphy, Virginia 5. Usman Garuba, Real Madrid Rim protection 1. Evan Mobley Neemias Queta is probably just a touch better right now as a rim protector due to his strength, but Mobley profiles as the best long-term. And on top of that, his rim protection is already elite even at just 215 pounds. He blocked three shots per game. USC had the best 2-point defense in the country this past season as the 7-footer shut down the paint. Mobley is an ambidextrous shot blocker who often prefers to block shots with his left hand. He’s superb coming over from the weak side to be available. Despite his lack of bulk, Mobley is a real hindrance around the basket because he knows how to contest vertically, getting every inch of contest out of his frame. He’s also terrific at not fouling. He averaged just 2.1 fouls per 40 minutes, a ridiculously low clip given how active he was as a shot contester inside. He’s also so versatile at accepting drivers out of pick-and-roll situations and knows how to use his length while moving backward, still providing a contest. 2. Neemias Queta, Utah State 3. Charles Bassey, Western Kentucky 4. Isaiah Jackson, Kentucky 5. EJ Onu, Shawnee State Off-ball team defense 1. Franz Wagner, Michigan A big part of why Wagner is seen as a lottery pick is how good he is as an overall defender. He’s as disruptive an off-ball defender as I’ve seen as a teenager, with elite feel for the game on that side of the floor. He’s super smart as a rotational defender, almost never missing an assignment with where he’s supposed to be. Coming across, he’s an underrated weak-side rim protector who blocked about one shot per game. Some blocks came on closeouts, but more were on rotations at the rim. He consistently tags onto rollers then recovers out to perimeter shooters well. Plays a minor game of cat-and-mouse with guards in that action, and gets a ton of deflections on cross-corner passes. Good at locking and trailing on off-ball screens. Stays pretty attached and does a great job of using his length to recover when he gets beat. He seems communicative, letting his teammates know where he is. Wagner generally profiles exceptionally well on the defensive end because the tape is so good away from the ball. 2. Herb Jones, Arkansas 3. Chris Duarte, Oregon 4. Usman Garuba, Real Madrid 5. Yves Pons, Tennessee Pick-and-roll defense for big men 1. Usman Garuba, Real Madrid Garuba is the best pick-and-roll defender as a teenage big that I’ve evaluated. He is exceptional at it for being this young (for what it’s worth, Mobley would be high on this list, too). Plays the gap between the roller and the ballhandler in such actions. He’s so good at the little cat-and-mouse game between the roll defender and ballhandler. And he wasn’t just good at it against teenagers — he was great at it in Euroleague competition against seasoned, elite European guards. He constantly plays with his hands up and turns into a deflection machine because of it. His great reaction time makes it seem like he’s playing aggressively on ballhandlers, while still also being able stay home on rollers while his guard recovers. His feet are super active, and he’s an impressive perimeter defender due to that lateral quickness. Garuba is not just a drop defender. He’s good on an island against driving ballhandlers as a big. His hips are very fluid in that he has no issue dropping and turning defensively. And because his hands are constantly high, he’s great at contesting. Then on top of that, he’s a legitimate rim protector and drivers just bounce off him if they try to attack him in ball screens due to his strength. He’s absolutely terrific at walling up and using the principle of verticality to contest. Garuba is just an absolutely awesome pick-and-roll big, and he’ll be able to play early in his career almost solely due to this skill, given how important it is in today’s NBA game. 2. Evan Mobley, USC 3. Jericho Sims, Texas Defensive Rebounding 1. Day’Ron Sharpe, North Carolina Defensive rebounding is much more important than offensive rebounding in today’s NBA given how few teams consciously chase extra possessions with bigs. But Sharpe would be both the best offensive and defensive rebounder in the class. He’s absolutely relentless on the glass. He plays exceptionally hard all the time, with real effort and energy. His 18.2 offensive rebounding rate was the top mark in the country this season, and his 23.2 defensive rebounding rate is strong for a player who consistently played next to another big. Knows how to carve out space using his strength and frame. Sharpe does a good job of finding and getting a body on his man, then attacking the ball. He’s a great positional rebounder who has soft hands and catches everything above his head. He’s a big-time contested rebounding threat who isn’t bothered by a sea of hands around the rim. He also goes outside of his area to rebound regularly. 2. Neemias Queta, Utah State 3. Charles Bassey, Western Kentucky 4. Greg Brown, Texas 5. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova
Hollinger mock 1. Pistons - Cade Cunningham 2. Rockets - Jalen Green | 6-5 guard | 19 years old | G League Ignite The Rockets have been on the phones about trades, but I don’t see one on the board that makes much sense for them unless it’s to move up to No. 1. (The likely cost would be one of the future unprotected picks they have from Brooklyn.) Houston’s new administration has seemed pretty excited about speedy, athletic 6-foot-5 guys in general, and Green would be, by far, the most talented of that group. One can also connect the dots to the Eric Gordon trade rumors here – he would become superfluous on a team rebuilding around Green and Kevin Porter. The idea of selecting Mobley is interesting, pairing him with Christian Wood in a very light but super-mobile frontcourt, but the idea of Mobley doesn’t seem to be getting a lot of traction right now. 3. Cavs - Evan Mobley 4. Raptors - Jalen Suggs 5. Magic - Scottie Barnes 6. Thunder - Jonathan Kuminga 7. Warriors - James Bouknight 8. Magic - Moses Moody 9. Kings - Franz Wagner 10. Grizzlies - Josh Giddey 11. Hornets - Kai Jones 12. Spurs - Alperen Sengun 13. Pacers - Corey Kispert 14. Warriors - Davion Mitchell 15. Wizards - Keon Johnson 16. Thunder - Usman Garuba 17. Pelicans - Trey Murphy III 18. Thunder - Jalen Johnson 19. Knicks - Chris Duarte 20. Hawks - Ziaire Williams 21. Knicks - Isaiah Jackson 22. Lakers - Jared Butler 23. Rockets - Miles McBride | 6-2 guard | 20 years old, sophomore | West Virginia The Rockets have picks No. 23 and No. 24 and have been active in conversation about moving up or otherwise gaining assets out of this haul. One scenario our Shams Charania reported had them sending Eric Gordon to Indiana and moving up to 13th, although that would require some significant money coming back as well. (A Jeremy Lamb-Aaron Holiday combo would just be enough for a salary match.) McBride is one of my favorite sleepers so I’m hoping he gets the call here. He might theoretically have some positional overlap with the likely second overall pick, Jalen Green, but their skill sets are so different that it wouldn’t seem that difficult to play the two together if they both hit. McBride’s strength, defensive toughness and length on defense fit into Houston’s approach at that end, where the Rockets have tended to collect short, switchable players (think Jae’Sean Tate or David Nwaba); the plus in McBride’s case is that he adds enough shooting and playmaking to have a viable offensive role. 24. Rockets - Jaden Springer | 6-4 guard | 18 years old, freshman | Tennessee Yes, it’s weird for Houston to take two combo guards right in a row, especially after taking Jalen Green at No. 2, but the Rockets are in talent acquisition mode right now; they can afford to take the best talent available and worry about fit later. It’s nice to say they should take a big wing instead, but those ranks have been pretty much picked clean at this point in the draft, and we’re getting into serious dice roll territory (Brandon Boston, anybody?) with the 6-foot-7 types who would be available here. Springer has shown well in workouts and his birth certificate works in his favor as one of the youngest players in the draft. Houston can afford to be patient with him. 25. Clippers - Ayo Dosunmu 26. Nuggets - Rokas Jokubaitis 27. Nets - Cam Thomas 28. Sixers - Sharife Cooper 29. Suns - Day’Ron Sharpe 30. Jazz - Quentin Grimes
MVP of the Adriatic League where Jokic was a former MVP Plays alongside Mt. Boban Seriously underrated Should be our pick at 23/24
