I'd like to see how my fellow GARMers rank the young players on this team, just to see where everyone else's head is on this. I wish there was a way to do a ranking poll of sorts, but I don't think there is a clean way to do it. Please use whatever criteria you wish, but my criteria is which players I would most like to see still here after the (hopefully) major trade we have all been waiting on for 3 years mixed with who has the best chance to be a long term major rotation player on the team. 1. White-- After two years completely out of basketball he took an Iowa State team that had been hovering around .500 for a decade to the tournament and beat UConn and gave the National Champs a run for their money. I think he could be an all-star and that his personality "issues" are going to be a strength not a weakness. 2. Parsons-- He is already a starter, and his offense and confidence should start growing into his defense this season. 3.Motiejunas -- 7 footer with a post game. Yes please. 4. Lamb -- The guy looks like a mouse lemur, but he is a prototypical SG with better defense and penetrating ability than Martin. 5. Patterson -- In his rookie year I thought we had the next David West. Last year was injury plagued and disappointing, but don't forget about the moments he had as a rookie. 6. Jones -- I liked him a lot going into college and after his freshman year. I think he can guard the 3 and 4 equally well and if he can develop a 3 point shot he can stay on the court while bringing energy, defense, rebounding and blocked shots. Without a 3 shot, he is going to get lost on offense, stand around, get yelled at by McHale and benched. 7. Leuer -- Don't sleep on this kid. He is a rotation player for the next 10 plus years in the league, and could become more. 8. Morris -- I don't like Morris. I did not like the pick. I hope he gets traded. That said, I understand why Morey drafted him and it make sense. The guy needs to be working on perimeter defense and watching taped of Big Dog Glenn Robinson, because that is who he could be. But he won't be. Trade him.
I didn't know Morris' twin played for UCONN and we signed him up :grin: Motie Lamb White Jones Parsons Morris Pat Leuer
The only guys I wouldn't trade are Motie (versatile and intriguing), Parsons (cheap and effective), and Lamb (IMO he was a steal at 12)
Under contract 1. Lamb 2. Motiejunas 3. Lowry 4. White 5. Parsons 6. Patterson 7. Jones 8. Scola 9. Martin 10. Dallas pick 11. Leuer 12. Morris 13. Livingston 14. Brockman I could see a package of Lamb, Montiejunas, Lowry, White, and Scola going for Dwight. Should beat all other offers.
In terms of trade value: 1. Lamb 2. Motiejunas 3. White 4. Parsons 5. Jones 6. Patterson 7. Leuer 8. Morris In terms of who I'd like to keep: 1. White 2. Motiejunas 3. Lamb 4. Parsons 5. Patterson 6. Morris 7. Leuer 8. Jones
Martin - Expiring, good shooter could help a contender that needs a shooter to relive pressure on low post big. Could net a heavily protected first and more expirings. Lowry - Digruntled pg, decent contract, could run a playoff caliber team. Could net protected first and exprirings. Scola - Solid Pro, decent contract. Could net young player solid backup, small possibility to be better than backup. Parsons - Energy guy, Rookie contract, solid backup, won't hurt you starting. Could net expirings. Lamb - Rookie contract probably be a decent scorer Morris - Rookie contract, solid backup? Could net expirings. Patterson - Rookie contract, solid backup. Could net expirings. White - Rookie contract, solid backup? Could net expirings. Jones - Rookie contract, solid backup? Could net expirings. DMo - Rookie contract, solid backup? Could net expirings. Fact is you bundle this entire group together and you won't get that star, nobody except the rockets wants to win 41 games.
But some teams want to win a lot less than 41 games -- and those are the teams we can help out. ORL for instance. They want to rebuild. They want to lose and crash and burn and rebuild through the draft the way OKC did. That is hard to do with a bunch of bad contracts and veterans on the roster. So, a team like Houston with cap space, nonguaranteed contracts, expiring contracts and young talent can be an attractive trading partner. I'm not saying it will happen, just that, if it does, it will not be because ORL wants to win 41 games...but because they want to win 14.
15 is usual cutoff point for rosters. Somone is getting waived on that list. Brockman and livingston most likely
Young Players: #1) Jeremy Lamb * #2) Donatas Motiejunas * #3) Royce White * #4) Chandler Parsons #5) Terrence Jones #6) Patrick Patterson #7) Marcus Morris #8) Jon Leuer #10) Greg Smith *(guys with these stars are the one's I feel have very high upsides!) Veterans: #1) Kyle Lowry #2) Luis Scola #3) Kevin Martin
Alright. In no particular order, my random thoughts on the roster. Martin -Martin can't play defense. Can't penetrate. Houston just drafted Lamb. Bye Bye Kevin (Please Daryl?) Scola - Scola is a favorite of mine but with sooooo many PFs on the roster, with his salary, advancing age, send him to a contender. Dmo - Love him. I have always loved him. (You can see what I wrote about him a year ago here Parsons - I like him a lot. I love his motor and effort. He is no superstar but he is definitely going to become one of those Shane Battier "I-want-that-guy-on-my-team" kind of guys where their impact on games do not always show up on the stat sheet. Lamb - His potential is there. I know he didn't become as dominant at Uconn last year like many were waiting to see but he did still lead them in scoring. The fact that he never took over made him fall to 12th but if he ever realizes his full potential, he might just be the superstar, 4th-quarter-go-to-guy Houston has missed the last 4 years or so. And his huge wingspan makes him a credible NBA defender. That's his ceiling. His floor is probably a really good number 2 option and side-kick to said superstar. White - Ugh. I mean, I see his potential and Iowa State had a good year but When you talk about potential anxiety issues and off the court problems, this is a huge risk. He also does not have a position in the NBA. I don't think he is quick enough for the 3 but lacks the strength for the 4.... Jones - Ugh. See White (minus the anxiety). One of these two HAS to be traded before the season starts.... Maybe packaged with Scola and/or Martin.... Lee - I like his defense. I like his offense (a very underrated shooter). What else can I say. Morris - why are people so down on him after just one season? Give him a chance. He may not get that chance in Houston but I definitely some team out there will give him that chance and he very well may produce as a rotation player. Lowry - I really like him. Can shoot very well (falls in love with his three a lot but when he has the stroke down, not many can deny him the ball). Has very good passing skills and court vision. EXCELLENT defender. Should bring back a very good return in any trade. Dragic - He already showed he can produce as a starting PG. I am still not sold on his defense, something we will miss from Lowry, so I'm not too happy about trading Lowry and keeping Dragic. But Lowry the disgruntled one. So buhbye Lowry.
Forgot Patterson.... Need to see more. Saw some flashes in his rookie year. Saw less flashes last year but he is a Rocket so of course the injury excuse is always there. FML.
We are going to let Goran go he wants to much money and we want Eric Gordon so Lowry gordon parson donatas motiejunas and asik is a good team
Just because I am interested in other people's reasonings for their rankings on this, I am curious why you have Parsons ranked so low -- even behind Jones. To me, Parsons already proved he can be a starter as a rookie, and his offense started to grow towards the end of the season. Is it you just think Jones can be more than that and that Parsons has already hit his ceiling?
