I was thinking about this the other day and although every pick is very important to the Rockets I think they are some picks that are just pivotal to the order of this draft. In my opinion these are the three key features that will be essential to Houston's draft selection. (in no set order) 1: New Jersey: They hold the key to the entire draft, what they decide to do with the first pick will shape everyone else's pick. Chances are they will pick Martin but if they suprise everyone and pick Mihm then then Martin will go two and suddenly everything is changed. 2: Chicago:What the Bulls decide could be vitally important to us. If the Bulls decide to trade picks then Mihm could slide, pushing others further down. If they decide to draft Miles then Mihm and Prybizila will slide much further and this leaves us with a better choice of forwards and guards. 3: ATLANTA: The big key is Atlanta and who they pick. If they pick Miller then Houston will end up with a choice of Alexander, Moiso or Johnson. However if they draft either Johnson or Alexander then it means the chances of getting someone like Miller are much better. Just wondering what everyone thinks are the key picks in this draft. In general terms you could say The Nets, the Bulls and The Magic will be the key, and for Houston I think Atlanta's choice is the key. I ------------------
I agree with you. The Clipper's pick will be tough to determine. If they take the trade for Cato, then everything changes. ------------------ Fuggetabout it
Bulls will determine this draft. They have the draft in their hand, 4th pick is verry important. Do you take Miles or a center? ------------------ President of the Moochie Norris FAN CLUB [This message has been edited by Francis3 (edited June 16, 2000).]
who?: Excellent idea! I attempted to do a similar "key choices" post involving the entire first round, but it got little actiuon on this BBS. Basically, each team has a wish list and depending on which team and who they picked before them , will detrmine what choices are available. I'll post here again. All teams have a list of their choice of draft picks at each of the spots, and have them ranked in order of importance. This is an attempt to duplicate that "wish list". Example: Pick # 5 … Orlando's list of their priorities shows they would like Mihm as their first choice, if he is not available they would choose Pryzbilla, if he is not available they would pick Miller, and finally if all others are not available they would choose Miles. Note: they could not choose Martin or Swift as they had been repeated four times previously and in all particality have been chosen. 1.NJN Martin, Mihm, Swift, Fizer 2.VAN Swift, Martin, Mihm, Fizer 3.LAC Swift, Martin, Fizer, Alexander 4.CHI Mihm, Martin, Swift, Pryzbilla 5.ORL Mihm, Pryzbilla, Miller, Miles 6.ATL Miller, Pryzbilla, Alexander, Miles 7.CHI Pryzbilla, Fizer, Miles, Barkley 8.CLV Tsaklidis, Miller, Miles, Alexander 9.HOU Miller, Miles, Moiso, Johnson 10.ORL Peterson, Tsaklidis, Johnson, Oyedeij 11.BOS Oyedeij, Barkley, Richardson, Peterson 12.DAL Oyedeij, Tsaklidis, Moiso, Johnson 13.ORL Peterson Tsaklidis, Johnson, Oyedeij 14.DET Moiso, Barkley, Cleaves, Peterson 15.MIL Moiso, E.Thomas, Samake, Richardson 16.SAC Samake, Carrawell, Barkley, Richardson 17.SEA Samake, Richardson, Brown, Thomas 18.LAC Cleaves, Dooling, Redd, Hightower 19.CHR Carrawell, Samake, Mottolo, Brown 20.PHL Brown, Carrawell, Mason, Mottolo 21.TOR Brown, Dooling, Cleaves, AJ Guyton 22.NYC Cleaves, Carrawell, Dooling, N'Diaye 23.UTA Mottolo, Redd, Hightower, N'Diaye 24.CHI Redd, Dooling, Mottolo, Collier 25.PHX N'Diaye, Redd, Porter, AJ Guyton 26.UTA Hightower, N'Diaye, Stevenson, Porter 27.IND Hightower, Mason, Harvey, Porter 28.POR Harvey, Porter, Mason, S Penn 29.LAL Collier, Harvey, Kapono, Rush ------------------
oeilpere, I think your approach is interesting. It gives you an idea on the independence, and importance, of how a few teams picking before you can impact your selections. I also like the chances that we do pick Miller, Miles, Moiso, or Johnson as identified but I would think Tsaklidis or Oyedeij could happen if we simply liked either player better than Moiso and the others were gone. A couple of things seem a little off though, like the first potential picker of Johnson being the Rockets. Also, if Fizer slipped to 6 I would assume the Bulls would not take him because Brand is there, and those he would likely go 7+. ------------------ "The Rockets were ahead of the Suns by 20 late in game 2 of the series, but when the going got tough, we just Pippened . We would not be done in the series though."
SS: Well I disagree with you on Johnson. There are better position players ahead of him in Miles, Miller and the needs of the previous teams have to come into account also. Orlando and Atlanta liking Pryz, and Orlando in love with the media attention of Miller in a Magic uni. But I agree with you that Fizer is in a tenuous postion at 6 to 8. He may slip farther and farther and in fact be available at nine. What would we do then? I have heard lately that OO is now being courted as maybe a truer NBA PF and NOT an NBA center type. If he is available at nine .... we could have to decide to get the PF spot filled with OO, Fizer, Moiso ..... Interesting. Personally, unless something outrageous dropos in their lap, I think the Rockets will try to draft to the big position .... as in PF(Fizer, OO, Moiso, Harvey, Collier) or C(The Greek, OO, Samake), or a PF/C swingman(OO, Samake, N'Dyiade) and leave the hole at the three (SF) for a free-agent acquisition. ------------------
Good point the Rockets may very well go with a F/A Small Forward rather than take one in this pick. Personally I think that the Rocks are more interested in a Swingman who can play the 3 & 4 combo. I defiantly think the Rockets feel pretty secure with Cato & Dream patrolling the middle & if need be could grab another lazy hamburger eater in the off season for some small cash & some fries. They would not take a Center in this daft unless they felt he was an absolute 1st class player who should have gone in the top 5. With all the teams that would kill for a Cato or a washed up Dream in the top 8 picks they won't let a serious C prospect go rolling by even for a better position player like Alexander. ------------------
