There's one thing champions all seem to have in common that the Rockets let, and makes me believe we are truly in for a much longer rebuilding process than anyone expects. It's not that you need 2 or 3 super stars or x coach or anything like that....but rather, that you have a young star to build a franchise around. Boston didn't just acquire the Big 3....they had Paul Pierce for years. They augmented his talents and loyalty after years and year and finally built around him by adding big pieces. Paul was drafted. Lakers - Kobe. The team was built around him by adding Pau Gasol, Odom, etc. But he was there from the get go. You can argue that the run before with Shaq was a free agent acquisition, but Kobe was acquired before Shaq signed, and believe me, West was building as much around Kobe as he was Shaq. San Antonio - Duncan - drafted in the 90's Detroit - built around Ben Wallace - acquired through trade (so one exception) Bulls? Need I say anything? Rockets - Hakeem was draft - and clearly the team was build around him. Let's look at Contenders current: Miami - Wade...guess what, drafted Mavs - Dirk drafted Current Bulls - Built around Rose, drafted Orlando - built around Howard - drafted How about contenders past? Cleveland - Lebron drafted obviously Sixers - Iverson - drafted Pacers - Reggie - drafted NY - Ewing - drafted Sac-town - hard to say they built around peja when weber and divacs were so big on that team Phoenix - Amare drafted. Previously - built around KJ - acquired via trade but he only had one year of NBA experience The point is that the vast vast majority of contenders all started with a draft pick that turned into a super star...and in the few exceptions - they started with really young guys. Look at the Knicks - with Amare and Carmelo they still don't look like a contender...both acquired in trades or free agent signing. When it's that overwhelming one way - it should give pause to the notion of building a contender from getting mature stars via trade when we don't have one to build around. I think we need to blow this team up and suck until we can get a star in the draft and than acquire more talent over the years with trades. We have no one to build around. Yao is too unreliable, and adding one star isn't enough but it's still really hard. We don't need a super star to build around, we need a YOUNG super star to build around. And since teams don't trade young super stars (Durant is not going anywhere anytime soon)....the draft is pretty much your only source for that coveted young super star to build around. Sorry to burst the bubble folks.
beggars can't be choosers, we'll take a superstar any which way we can you serious? Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman...and you choose Ben Wallace?
Great post, agree to a point. The landscape has obviously changed, the players have much more control than in the past. Knicks obviously acquired Melo and Amare, without having a superstar to lure them there. Nets land DWill for some picks and An unproven Favors. So it can be done, it just seems to be risky and possibly very time consuming holding out for something to break. Do the Rockets hold out until 2012, keeping ample capspace and assets too burn? Maybe, but I'm a little tired of waiting. Good thing is, the stars that could be moving, are in the East (Howard, DWill) and would probably (hopefully) be moved west. So who knows. I'm not sold the Hornets would trade Paul inside the division, not that I wouldn't try, just not likely. I know this draft is weak, but I'd like to see the Rockets do all they can too move up if they feel there is a superstar in the making in this draft. So point is, yes I agree drafting a star would be ideal, but not the only way too succeed.
I think Steve Nash was the reason Phoenix had it's run as a contender. Though he was originally drafted by the Suns, it was after his time in Dallas when Phoenix picked him up via FA that he really upped his game. As posters before me have said.. It would be great to draft a D. Rose or Lebron, but picking in the 12-18 range the chances of grabbing a player of that caliber is very very slim.
Yeah, I wouldn't want to be in the Knicks' shoes. Their stars were drafted by other teams. Poor bastards. Major stars just don't switch teams all that often. The argument is better if you're saying its better to have first crack at elite players. But then who wouldn't want to have the #1 pick in a Shaq/Durant/Lebron/Kwame year? People who prefer respectable organizations who dont tank. I'll admit I don't watch as many games the last two seasons on League Pass, which I pay way too much for, but how many T-Wolves or Cavs fans buy League Pass?
I totally agree. While its nice to buy it ready-made by others, its better if its homegrown. So who will it be? Could Patterson be the answer? Maybe Chase?
T-Mac? Nash? Lebron/Bosh? Carmelo/Amare? KG/Allen? Kobe? Gasol? Shaq? Wallace? D-Will? Do I even need to go on? All those players were either traded or switched teams on their own. I'm not saying you can't draft and win. It's without a question one way to get a foundational player that you can base your team around. However, the Clippers/Sacramento teams of the world, who continuously draft lottery year after year haven't gotten much better because of it. I love Griffin but he will never enjoy true success with that organization. Drafting is only nice if you get that super star player. Otherwise, you might as well enjoy the season rather than asking your players to play below their own abilities year after year. That just breeds loser mentality. Maybe it's just me, but I'm really enjoying watching the Rockets give it their all since the all-star break. It's been nice watching a team that Brooks isn't bringing down. Sure, they probably are not making the playoffs but at least they are making it interesting. And I would rather watch interesting than guys sucking balls.
Unnecessary potshots AND a short term memory. Awesome combo. Anyways, 99% of stars are drafted by someone. Hardly any superstars are traded. You don't make "trade for superstars" a strategy. That's like going into to a round of poker saying your goal is to get a royal flush. Duh. That's what bothers me on message boards.
I think you're just saying this because we were unsuccessful in our little hunt for a superstar..getting a superstar is getting a superstar either way it goes..lol im not buying it man
The question is not only whether you drafted that star player, but also whether you had to draft him with, say, a top 5 pick-- i.e. the kind you get by, most likely, trotting out a 20-ish-win team or by getting really lucky in the lottery. Kobe: 13th (traded Vlade for him) Reggie Miller: 11th Stockton and Malone: 16th and 13th picks Nash: 15th Dirk: 9th Pierce: 10th Tony Parker: 28th Ginobili: 57th KG: Traded for a package centered around Al Jefferson (15th) Jermaine O'Neil: 17th Of course, you got much better odds when you have a top 5 pick, but getting talent through the draft does not require "tanking." The Rockets have decided against "tanking" likely because they don't think it's worth throwing away talent like Lowry, Scola, Martin, Lee, Patterson, etc. for only a chance at a draft pick which may not end up in the top 3 and who may or may not end up good. They have not, however, simply tried to trade for an established "superstar": They've been using their picks pretty wisely, have traded for extra picks, have tried to trade up in the draft, and have gone after guys in free agency. Tanking vs. trading for super star is a false dichotomy.
There is no "sure thing" any longer with the draft lottery. There is no coin toss that is going to give Houston a Ralph Sampson or an Hakeem Olajuwon. I understand what Morey is trying to do, at least I think I do. He's attempting to either trade for a proven star, or trade up (or down, if his target drops) for a college player that he has rated as sure a "sure thing" as he can find in the draft. It's why we collected all those assets. More wings than KFC. Draft picks to move up with, or add to a trade package. We all know this stuff. Why is it fool's gold? Hell, all of these attempts are "fool's gold." Want to tank in order to get a high pick? Want to draft that superstar? Tell me how you do it. How do you insure that the guy(s) you want is going to be there when you pick? It's a crap shoot. You can increase the odds by getting as high a pick as you can manage (there are those assets again, coming in handy), but Morey can never count on the player becoming an Hakeem and not a Sampson or Yao, broken before they could fulfill their tremendous promise. It's why he's tried so hard to get a proven star. He's failed, but it's not for lack of trying. What do you want? The 14-68 season that netted us Sampson? The 29-53 season that landed us Olajuwon? Those conditions no longer exist. We could have a string of seasons like that and end up with a team sprinkled with drafted failures. It happens. They get injured. Despite all the research, they lack some fundamental quality almost impossible to detect that leads to a Olajuwon or a Jordan, and regardless of their physical gifts, they don't rise above the herd. Or you end up with the one spot at the top of the draft that doesn't net you your target, because you don't luck out with the lottery. I prefer the route being taken by Morey. I prefer a competitive team that's fun to watch, even if they don't make it to the Finals, while I wait for Morey to finally be able to make his move. I hate losing and I remember all those lousy seasons.
