Here is mine I'm assuming no trades are made, we make all 3 original picks, and the Pistons take Cade as expected Also I have cut-off my pool of potential picks at the top 40 players, since we are not expected to consider the rest of the class past pick #24 To begin, I'm eliminating 9 players I would love to draft, but cannot These guys either will not be available at 2 (Cade), or I feel certain will not drop all the way to the 20s CAN'T HAVE W CCunningham SBarnes JKuminga MMoody FWagner G JSuggs JBouknight DMitchell KJohnson Next, I'll take out another 17 guys that could be on the board for the late picks These are those I either dislike as a player or a fit for this team DON'T WANT B KJones DSharpe CBassey RPrkacin W CKispert CDuarte BBoston GBrown ITodd G JGiddey TMann SCooper BHyland CThomas ADosunmu JChristopher QGrimes Eliminating the 26 players above clarifies the Rockets options quite a bit I now have a group 14 guys I really like as prospects for this team BIG (4) 1 EMobley 9 UGaruba 10 IJackson 11 ASengun WING (5) 3 JJohnson 5 TMurphy 6 ZWilliams 8 JThor 13 JWieskamp GUARD (5) 2 JGreen 4 JSpringer 7 JButler 12 JPrimo 14 MMcBride Of course, this Rockets draft will be defined by how it starts at the top I have a strong preference for Evan Mobley over Jalen Green I will root for either to become the franchise player around whom the next Rockets contender is built Naturally, the later picks will be largely determined by the player taken at 2 If we go Mobley at 2, I'm not going to look at another Big later unless everyone else is off the board Among my 4 Guards potentially on the board in the 20s, I love Springer or Butler as a future starter If both are gone, either Primo or McBride would be satisfactory rotation players to develop If the second pick is Green, we have to get a young Big later to develop as a potential starter next to Wood I go back and forth on Garuba and Jackson as my favorite for this role Both are tenacious, bouncy defenders with exciting offensive flashes that hint at future growth Both would complement Wood very well going forward I doubt Sengun falls this far, but if so, his undeniable production as a teen pro would be irresistible so late Either way the #2 pick goes, I'm definitely targeting a Wing in the 20s with the other pick I see my group of 5 Wings in 2 tiers ... but all 5 are versatile, long, athletic defenders The first tier is Jalen, Trey and Ziaire - I'm hoping at least 1 will drop to us as a plug-and-play rookie F If all 3 are gone (highly likely), I'd be content to 'settle' for the 2way potential of Thor or Wieskamp as rotation depth CASE 1: #2 - EMobley #23 - (WING) JJohnson ZWilliams TMurphy JThor JWieskamp #24 - (GUARD) JSpringer JButler JPrimo MMcBride With Mobley + Wood up front, I would bring back Olynyk in FA too That doesn't leave many minutes for another rookie Big, so I'm looking to add a Wing and a Guard later At Wing, I really want another play-maker at one of the F spots to take some pressure off of KPJ to create everything for everybody all the time Thus I prefer Jalen Johnson as the best fit next to Mobley I see him as a stronger, more explosive version of Lamar Odom - the ultimate versatile X factor with star potential when he's right If he is gone, Ziaire would also bring some creativity and scoring at F that Murphy just doesn't have For Guard, Springer is an easy call for me if he's still available (doubt it) I think he's an ideal complement next to KPJ in the backcourt Picture Marcus Smart, but more athletic and with a better jumper ... yes please! The more likely guy to fall here is Butler, and I'd be nearly as happy to pair him with KPJ in the backcourt going forward C - Wood / Olynyk PF - Mobley / KMJ SF - Tate / JJ SG - EGo / Springer PG - KPJ / Wall CASE 2: #2 - JGreen #23 - (WING) TMurphy ZWilliams JJohnson JWieskamp JThor #24 - (BIG) UGaruba IJackson ASengun With Green joining KPJ / Wall / EGo and all our other young guards, adding another later only helps our G-league team next year Not saying I wouldn't still take a guy like Springer if he fell, but otherwise, I'm drafting a Wing and a Big My focus on a Wing shifts with Green in the fold instead of Mobley I need more of an off-ball shooter / cutter in this case to space the floor for KPJ and Green to create Murphy is ideal for this role, which is why it seems inevitable he will be long gone by 23 (I think he might sneak into the late lotto range) If nobody drops, I might actually prefer Wieskamp over Thor to fill this 3&D role alongside our new ball-dominant backcourt At Big, I've got to find a great defender to bang inside, battle for boards, and protect the rim, since neither Wood nor Kelly excel in that role Sengun would be tough to pass on, but I figure he's off the board long before 23 I'll take Garuba's intuitive defensive 'feel' and brute strength over Jackson's rare athleticism, but it's really a coin flip C - Wood / Olynyk PF - KMJ / Garuba SF - Tate / Murphy SG - Green / EGo PG - KPJ / Wall
Awesome post. I would respond to more of it but I’m on a phone. I’m with you on a lot of your assessments. I prefer Mobley as well, but Green is fine too. What I would really love out of this draft though is for the 2nd player to be Garuba, whether he falls or Houston trades up to get him. I think his D could be a game changer for Houston. Him, Sengun, and Jalen Johnson(maybe) seem like solid bigs that would make a difference, in their own different ways. Every other big seems like a huge gamble that is unlikely to work out. If the rockets have a chance to nab one or two of those bigs I hope they pounce on it. if not, I would rather them go BPA, even if that ends up being players I don’t really want like Cooper. Even if it ends up being 3 shooting guards. I’d rather them get players that can legit play someday rather than guys who are always going to be 2 years away from being 2 years away and never play even if there is a huge gaping hole for them to fill already(nice).
Main reason to draft Green is because not a believer in Porter? Porter is betting on the wrong horse methinks.
Isn't that basically the definition of a Eurostash? Unless it's like a 10-year contract, some teams might value that they get to wait a few years. I do think this news will cause him to fall quite a bit, though. If he falls to the second round and doesn't have a guaranteed contract, he might turn into another Llull.
Love the effort! I don't think we keep all 3 picks (history doesn't do well with Rox and 3 1st round choices). Option #2 is a little short for the starters IMHO. If you flip Tate and Murphy, I could see that (probably wouldn't happen at first... just later in the season) I prefer Option #1 (with JJ eventually starting over Tate), but I think the Green Gang is going to have its day. Also... gotta find Wall another home (CHI, LAC, MIA, NYK). Cheers, mate!
I read that and don’t know exactly what to make of it. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was leaks designed to play mind games to determine his position. If it’s legit that would be a bummer and he would probably be a draft and stash where who knows when he would come over. (Llul see). He would definitely be in range of rockets picks in that case.
Read that tweet more carefully. Every year onwards Garuba's buyout INCREASES by 1 MILLION EUROS. Stashing him would be very costly and ill advised. You eat the buyout ASAP.
Aren't the NBA rules that a team can only pay like $750K towards a buy out and the player has to pay the rest out of their own pocket? Or have they changed that rule recently?
But does that contract not end at some point? I was thinking you just bring him over when it runs out.
iirc, isn’t there a team limit on the buyout of contracts? Something paltry like 500k? If teams could do the buyout and he would want to come over I would think one of the billionaires in the nba would giggle and fork over the money. This is why I’m skeptical about this information. Why is this coming out 2 days before the draft? If people knew about this I highly doubt he’d have been projected as high as he has been.
I found an article on this after I raised the question myself https://www.babcockhoops.com/post/nba-draft-the-hidden-cost-of-international-prospects Point of interest is here:
Can they spread it out over the contract? Anything past the lottery and he'd be pretty much broke that first year.
I feel like this is why Garuba is slipping down some mocks lately. I think his buyout information became clearer and a team would essentially have to get him to agree to play for free by paying his own buyout. It seems like a tough situation to get him to come over unless he just absolutely cant wait to live the NBA dream. And with the reports of the buyout actually escalating rather than reducing, it could be a while before he comes over to the league.
But stashing the player hurts the player financially causing resentment and hardship. Need to pay buyout immediately IMO or player will force trade or never agree to come over.
