To those people who are afraid to lose Luther Head, remember undersized scoring 2 guards are probably the most prolific position in the draft. Here are some players that fit the same basic mold that will be available late first round or in the second round. Guillermo Diaz 6'2 190 Shannon Brown 6'3 190 Quincy Douby 6'3 175 Mike Gansey 6'4 205 Hassan Adams 6'4 212 Allan Ray 6'2 175 Without a doubt any of these guys that basically fit the Head mold would be available not only where we pick in the second round, but probably deep into the second round. Point being that losing head might be a short term sting (half to three quarters of a season) of having a new rookie aclimate. Honestly if it were up to me, i'd draft both Roy and Gansey and never worry about the 2 guard spot again. or Diaz and add basically a 6'2 version of Nate Robinson.
Fair enough. Considering our number of problems in the backcourt and at the four, I don't like the idea of replacing Head with any of the above or of relying on two rookies at one position, but I also don't know what management thinks will be available over the duration of this season.
If we could buy the 10th pick from seattle and draft ronnie brewer, then I wouldnt mind trading Luther Head that much at all, but I doubt we will, so yeah I'm sort of worried about losing Luther, he's better than all the players you mentioned and he already has a year of experience. I really like him, but its for Brandon Roy, so it's not that bad, rather trade Juwan Howard than Luther.
Trade Juwan and Rybo to Portland for Miles and #30, and #31. Then send #31 and #32 to some team that wants out of the first round, maybe the Knicks at #20. Hope and pray that Redick drops there. Then you replace Head with Redick and get Roy besides. And get rid of Juwan.
Mike Gansey or Guillermo Diaz can easily replace Head's position. This draft year lacks solid bigman in 2nd round but you can still find some decent guards at 32nd pick. It's not the best scenario of having 2 rookies of your backcourt but considering we only have MLE to spend and this summer free agents suck, it's probably the only way you can go. As long as we get Roy and he turns out to be the guy we expect, the backup SG position is easy to solve.
What i like about Head is, he is a true competitor and he came from a winning college program. Yes, undersized SG is easy to find nowadays but player like Head are not afraid to take big shots, remember he hit some clutchs for the rockets, this is hard to replace.....
I'm not sure if I'm confortable with Swift, Chuck Hayes, Yao, and Mutumbo as the only big men given the injuries from last year and generaly creakiness of Mount M....but I guess they signed Hayes to a long term contract to let Howard go.... I doubt Houston actually gets both Roy & Reddick and if they did, would it be worth giving up your only trading pieces(Head & Juwon) for Roy, Reddick, and Miles? Actually, that sounds pretty good right about now. It would be worth it...
Head contributed more than expected to the team and was a suprise. He was drafted partly on the notion that he'd demonstrate some point guard skills but did not show much of that this past year. Therefore he's what he is, an athletic shooting guard who is undersized. Good for the Rockets and I can agree to the question of why replace a guy who overperformed, but that can be replaced if it had to be... All the potential guys mentioned could contribute almost to Head's production level at limited minutes as a backup (minutes Head was supposed to play anyway)
I'm not letting go of Head. Hell no. I don't give a damn about Juwan, or Stro, or Frahm, whatever. But not Head. You expect people to come out of college and immediately become great contributors in the NBA? No, it's not that easy. Head has been a great player all season, contributing, making clutch shots, he is a skilled player with will. And that's essential for a team. The difference between him and the players you mentioned is that he has more experience than the average rookie. He had the 4th play time on the team! We've given him so much play time, it's natural we expect him to improve, to develop faster than the average rookie. It's like a seed we're planting: we've given it water and a lot of fertilizer, and just when you've seen the stem and the flower's 'bout to blossom, you suddenly decide to throw it away and plant a new seed. That's plain dumb. I want depth and range. I want will and experience. There are some things that draft pick don't bring. Head is just too much to lose.
And another question? How do you know you get Roy at #5? Chicago and Charlotte have shown great interest in this guy. Hell, who knows how it could end up?
Chicago definitely won't pick him. They're filled with guards and small forwards. They need a power forward or center because all they have is Tyson Chandler and he won't cut it. As for Charlotte, that's the tricky one. Roy refused to work out for them and its clear his agent does not want him going there. But thankfully they plugged Jordan into that front office so he might help us out and pick some guy with loads of potential ala Kwame Brown.
I don't see how we can make dumb jokes with Gansey's name. Besides, as plentiful as undersized 2 guards may be, it's not as easy as just grabbing a SG in the second round of the draft. More likely than not, whoever we get with the second rounder won't amount to much of anything. Head, on the other hand, was one of the more successful players of last year's rookie class despite being picked late in the first round. He's a known commodity and a guy who will be in the league and contributing for a while. Our second rounder might replace him, or he could be in the NBDL after one season. Plus, we've got other needs. We need a back-up point guard. We will soon need a back-up center. We may need a back-up small forward. Our power forward rotation is a mess. We can't trade away what assets we have too cheaply. To get a legit starting SG, it might be worth trading Head. But, we might well get a legit starting SG without trading him. Is it more worthwhile to give up Head to reduce the risk?
Very true. However, we are more likely to get a really good player at #5 than at #8. If a big (Aldridge or Bargnani)falls to us, let JVG worry about how to use the pick. If a SF (Gay or Morrison) falls to us, then let JVG worry about how to use the pick. At #32 we will pick up either a SG (Gansey, Denham Brown, etc) or a backup PG (Lowry, Diaz etc). I wish we could trade up far enough to get Farmar as the backup PG -- but that is a pipe dream. The biggest dream of all is consummation of the Atlanta trade -- because that is not a fact, merely a rumor at this point. I know all the Luther-ans will become Head-achers after the fact, but a trade up to #4 or #5 would be well worth his loss.
The one good thing from last season was that we were able to showcase this kid now lets get value for him
This is the problem. It's not that losing Head per se is so horrible. It's that we are losing him in a 1 for 2 scenario and we don't have the asset (i.e. extra pick) to use to replace him. The 32 pick can't be used more than once. I think I'd still prefer a New Orleans trade and get more young assets out of the draft.
Ya, I saw a quote recently here VG said he doesn't have any say in who we draft which kind of disturbes me a bit because he is the coach they gave the keys to. I think Morey & Dawson are calling the shots here. I read where one writer accused Dawson of making picks that didn't fit in with the coaching strategy and that they made picks that VG had no use for and thus never played. I think it's important for a coach & GM to be on the same page but maybe that's just me.... For what it's worth, Morey is suppose to be more than just a stats guy and has had very good success recently filling out the Celtic's roster with quality role players to surround their star through the draft. Hopefully he can do the same here because we need it! Sorry...wondered off topic a bit.
Hmmmmmm.......Rodrick Rhodes?? Held up the deal to get Damon Stoudamire flashback? A dime-a-dozen. Especially when we can get Roy, a starting caliber player for years and years to come. A perfect compliment to Yao/Tmac. He is a good defender, a great passer, a smart shooter and player and does not play the Cuttino/Head (sometimes)/Mike James, not defering to Ming/McGrady thing.
