[official] Rockets land 4th Pick

Joe Cronin Reacts to NBA Draft Lottery: Third Pick is ‘Significant’ For Blazers Or Another Team

 

Feels like we were badly swept in the 1st round.

 

https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/2023-nba-mock-draft-v7

 

Unfortunately so, unless we luck out. I'm not counting on that at all.

 

Rockets "luck" in the lottery... I'd say Adam Silver has already been in control of the franchise for years...

 

Could a fourth pick and a future Nets pick with a guy like KMJ get us a guy like Siakam? He's a good vet borderline star that plays both sides of the ball well.

 

Damn, sorry Hakeem you don't have a stud to work with.

 

Probably, but it comes down to fit. Is there a better borderline All-Star or All-Star available?

This offseason will show what kind of team Udoka and Stone want to create.

 

We only had a 27.4% chance of getting Wemby or Scoot, versus a 47.8% chance of dropping to 5 or 6. It could have been much worse for us, as Detroit found out.

I haven't seen the Thompson twins play so those are elite prospects I have no opinion on. In college basketball, Brandon Miller looked great for most of the season, but really struggled down the stretch. I don't really see the PG13 comparison because PG was really explosive and an elite defender, whereas Miller is more of a smooth operator. Cam Whitmore's athleticism is eye popping for me. He's definitely built for the NBA physically which is a huge plus, but has a long way to go skills wise. I also like Jarace Walker's versatility even though that isn't highly valued in today's NBA.

With Miller and Scoot most likely gone by the time we pick, I'd lean towards picking Walker. He's not a high ceiling pick unfortunately, but he'd fit in with any lineup, will always bring defense and energy, and doesn't have a broken jumper. Our frontcourt depth is anemic and I could see him playing next to either Sengun or Jabari. If he's the PF version of Tari Eason I'd be okay with that. If he can elevate his game to an Aaron Gordon type we'd have done well. Maybe the Thompsons have star potential, but I'm not as keen to draft players I haven't seen like I was with Sharpe last year.

 

So how about the Rockets draft Jarace Walker, throw a massive offer at Cameron Johnson hoping the Nets don't match or maybe offer a S&T package with Sengun, KJ Martin and some of their own pick swaps back and go with a really switchy lineup of

Jabari
Walker
Johnson
KPJ
Green

I know it's a bit small, but I think between Jabari, Walker, and Johnson you'd have enough athleticism, strength (mostly Walker) and length to handle just about any center and you'd potentially have enough defense to make up for Jalen Green being on the court.

Plus you'd have MUCH better spacing if Johnson stays a good shooter, Walker can managed to match his 35% from college, and Jabari remembers that he used to know how to shoot.

I'm not sure there's many situations better than this one.

 

I think the NBA has gone full WWF/WWE, and foregone sport competition, and instead focus on sports entertainment. It’s an edited for television production.

It’s like watching Olympic Gymnastics, where you need to let the judges tell you what you saw and who won. It’s entertaining as hell, but the ball and the hoop aren’t the arbitrators of deciding the outcome. It’s the refs, the networks, and the league management, etc.

 

Most people can accept that political decisions which impact our lives are influenced by lobbies and $$$ … but can’t accept the NBA which exists to make $$$ from entertainment is not rigged in some way.

 

last night was a gut punch for sure