I would love to see him play for the knicks. Houston is 31 and Sprewell is 32. By the time James is starting to excel, these guys will be on the decline. Also, all these injuries are going to slow Mcdyess down, and possibly shorten his career. James could easily end up on a mediocre team with nobody around him.
Even if you consider James to be a Jordan type player a stronger case can be made for His HIGHness..Yao can dominate on both ends and needs less shot attempts to get his points. The same reasoning was why The Dream was picked over Jordan,,,but no one could have projected Jordans leadership qualities. IMHO the Bulls success was due to MJs leadership as much as his skills. Unless James has these leadership qualities, and there is no way anyone would know...Yao Ming over James with NO hesitation.
Comparing Eddie vs Lebron are like comparing apples and oranges, they are two different style of players.
The one thing that I liked about this post-game interview is that LeBron doesn't seem ignorant of his game. He's also does't try to come accross as "Jordan." He acts like himself....nothing more, nothing less. This is good. Actually, his voice reminds me of a old time boxer: Leon Spinks. I could do without the "John-Starks" chest thumping...
LeBron James is selected first by Memphis, he refuses to sign as he wants to play with Yao Ming! We trade Taylor,Norris and KT and James signs with the Rox. Our starting Five - Francis,Mobley, James, Griffin and Yao Ming. Backed up by Maddox,Hawkins,Nachbar,Morris and Cato. It could happen, you never know!
No one had seen Yao, and it was a giant (pun, yes) question mark for all the pro and amateur pundits. No one has seen LBJ. Going against HSers is not being 'seen'. Great 7'5" beats great 6'6" anyday. 22 with int'l maturity beats 17 anyday. 'Upside' not withstanding. Market appeal -- Yao or LBJ? I now 'know' Yao, and love his appeal. I do not know LBJ. But I bet I will.
Here are my 2 cents. I think Houston would/should have picked Lebron and trade him to a desperate team like chicago with the #2 pick and told them to give up thier selection (yao) and somebody else. Or a 3 way trade with Cleveland and chicago where Ricky Davis and cleveland's picks go to chicago and where yao (picked 2nd) and Miles go to Houston. Chicago would get Jay will and the pick.
Francis + Yao > Francis + James No doubt that James is going to be a stud, but with our current team, it wouldnt have made sense for the Rockets to draft LeBron.
Well, the two things the Rockets wanted to address at the 2002 draft were center and a small forward. Ming and James would have been perfect fits for either position. Lebron probably won't score 30 per game his rookie season, but he's definitely not the typical high school player that takes three years to develop. He can definitely help out a team immediately with his court vision and passing skills. Fact is, if Lebron would have been born four months earlier (August instead of December), he WOULD have been in the 2002 NBA draft. It probably would have been a coin flip for the Rockets to see who they would draft...
I think the reason people picked Dream over Jordan is that really good big men were known to lead to championships. There simply wasn't a history of a great guard leading a team to championship rings. Think Bill Russell, Jabbar, Willis Reed, Elvin Hayes, Bill Walton, etc. How many shooting guards prior to 1983 were the backbone of a championship team? Arguably the best guard before Jordan was Oscar Robertson, and he only won a championship with the Bucks as an old man. Also, Jordan spent a few years getting schooled by the Isiah Thomas Detroit Pistons before he transformed from a good scorer to a great player. For a while he was one of these guys who put up great numbers but didn't have championship savvy, a la Wilt Chamberlain. So Jordan was unique, and trying to draft "a Jordan" is akin to wishing upon a star for the reincarnation of Babe Ruth. Dave.
what if the rockets had the 2nd pick of the 1984 draft? sam bowie? uuuuugggghhhhh, i shiver just thinking about it.
Great point Dave. But I think Jordan's squads also were very, very lucky and never played against a Truly dominant Big Man. Their record against the Rockets speaks for itself and even the Spurs gave them a hard time. I don't consider Patrick Ewing and the Knicks as team that could stop him because you had John Starks guarding Jordan. That is why he always went off on them. To get his championships the Bulls went against a Magic Johnson Backcourt based Laker Squad, a Backcourt based Portland Terry Porter/Drexler squad, a PF-PG Based Phoenix Squad, a PG-PF Payton-Kemp Sonics squad and a Choking Big Man in a PF-PG combo like Utah. Dennis Rodman, for all his other problems was a tenacious PF defender as was Horace Grant, and they locked down many of the PF's that they went against. Though they Beat shaq (Center)and penny in 96, they were beaten by them the Year before and I think our sweep of them, mentally devastated that team, in that they just never played the same again. This is not taking away from Jordan's greatness, but at times its better to stick with the formula that has worked better. You have Kobe/McGrady/AI and others that just can't lead their teams to championships without a dominant big man, yet Hakeem and Duncan and Kareem proved a big man can carry the team there. With our squad of Francis, Mobley, Griffin etc, even if LeBron James was on the board, I would have chosen Ming. Of course a trade to the #2 spot for Ming and a SF would have been Ideal to get a Miles from Cleveland etc. I think the combination of Ming, Francis, Griffin and Role Players is the combination that can take us to the promised land. I don't know if you guys ever saw Griffin in college, but he was a beast. His game was so different than what we see today. I think that when he puts on some weight and matures physically and mentally, that he will be able to play the 4 like that. I was a thing of beauty to watch him. From the inside/outside, rebounding and blocking shots like a monster. This is a beautiful time guys.....lets enjoy it!!
Fact is, if Lebron would have been born four months earlier, he might not have survived the pre-matured birth. It probably would have been Yao Ming anyways.
We can give up this year, then Francise go to the lottery and win for the second time! Also, Brand will become FA soon and we sign(or trade) him. Wow, look at our lineup next year! We can play with three guards and 2-3 zone defense easily! Steive, Cat, L.J. Brand, Yao Just dreaming
At least one GM doubt that James would have been taken above Yao: http://espn.go.com/nba/columns/stein_marc/1475781.html whatever it's worth.
