A lot of people here want to tank/think Morey is trying to tank. Just a clarification: our current 1st Round pick (2012) will be ours UNLESS we make the playoffs, correct? So if we don't make the playoffs we'll have our lottery 1st round pick AND the 2012 Knicks pick (provided they don't finish in the top 5 of the lottery)?
That's right. If the Rockets miss the playoffs, they keep their 2012 first rounder and the lottery-protected first round draft pick obligation to New Jersey (from Terrence Williams trade) rolls to 2013. That's exactly right.
As if there weren't enough incentives to tank. To endure a season of misery, barely make the playoffs, get stomped in the first round, and then watch another team get our pick, all because 1. Les has done a Vulcan mind meld with Drayton 2. Morey traded our pick for T-Will might just be what pushes me to give up watching sports and start playing dungeons and dragons again. God help us!
I think the Rockets also have traded their 2nd round pick this year to the Pistons (top 40 protected, Chase Budinger deal), but receive the TWolves 2nd round pick this year if it is in the 31-55 slot. We also get the Grizzlies 2013 first round pick, lottery protected. Though it appears we've traded our 2013 2nd round pick to the Hawks (top 40 protected), however we receive the Clippers 2015 2nd round pick, IF it falls in 51-55 slot. Makes sense?? At least, that's according to nbadraft.net - not that they're always right.
All the more reason to just enjoy the ride, hope we'll be competitive, have some good highlights and individual stats, games go down to the wire and we lose every single time.
Rockets are 2-4...defending champion Mavs are 3-5 and just got blown out by a Spurs team without Manu on the road on a second night of a back to back....similar to the Rockets being blown out by the Clippers in LA on a second night of a back to back... Things are not as bad as they seem.
Things will feel worse when next year comes along and we have pay for picks and there are no sellers just because we wanted to finish 8th in the west.
The ultimate cruelty would be if the Mavs suffer a key injury and miss the playoffs. Imagine how awful it would be if Dallas got a top five pick and we ended up losing to the Thunder in the first round.
I still have high hopes that we go full tank mode and finish last (purposely or not). It has to happen. The anti-tanking crowd will forget about this season next year when we have a high lottery pick. After the year of Slo-mile, I think we (fans) can take the hit.
