Great points Sane about the Magic. In the draft they will be hoping for Okafor since he is the most ready player. They dont have time to wait. IF they dont get Okafor they will most likely look for trades to get immediate impact for the team. Let's say the Magic get the #2 pick and Okafor is off the board. The Magic are willing to deal their #2 pick for Francis. a) Would you do it? b) Would you also consider then moving the pick to Seattle for Ray Allen and change? Thoughts?
Because I'd arther have a few veterans and one draft choice, than a couple of draft choices and one overpriced veteran. The pick has to be top 2, because the players than can help us are Josh Howard and Emeka Okafor. We don't need a rookie PG, we don't need a SG, a SF, or C. What we do need is a PF with Okafor's capabilities EXACTLY.
would it? i mean i haven't seen enough of Tyronn Lue, but stat wise at least he's a pretty big downgrade from Francis. i also think he's a bit too small. hasn't ever played more than 30 mpg. is he a solid starter? Okafor... little worried about his back problems. I mean I can see your argument. a league average PG + a rookie stud would make us better. But it's risky. those two guys you mentioned at least are unproven commodities.
Great idea, but personally, I don't think the Magic will pick anyone regardless of who's available. Right now, they're set at PF, and the best option for them would be to bring in a star who will make T-Mac happy and hopeful. Picking Okafor would be a bad idea for them because, as I understand it, the Magic are trying to keep T-Mac happy and he says he doesn't want any rookies on the team developing on his expense. I would definitely deal Francis for any of the top 2 picks, assuming we get a good PG in return.
Well I've been following Lue for a while and I really feel he's a good fit for this team. Very very solid at protecting the ball, has played with a big man, good defender, good shooter. Whether Steve's here or not, I'd love to see the Rockets pursuing this guy. As for Okafor, haven't heard anything about his back problems, but that would definitely make me think twice if he's really bothered by it. You're definitely right that they're relatively unproven, however, these are the kinds of risks we need to take if we want to improve ourt eam and go to the next step.
well... i might have made the back problems up. i think he missed the last couple of games for UConn with some sort of injury... i thought it was back, but i might have mentally melded two separate stories or something. sometimes these college players don't pan out, i'm just afraid that in the end it will be a steve - lue swap. that EG thing's got me freaked out about all rookies now. although Okafor has more college experience and seems a lot more mature.
Actually, we will all have to wait to see which veterans will be exposed and selected, and after the first three, maybe four, picks, there will be a lot of draft rookie "equals." IMO, it will just depend on which team needs what that will determine their selection after Pick 4. Okafor is the first draft possibility from Houston that I would bypass in favor of another player (Howard). (Can't prove it, but through the years, I wanted Drexler over McCray; Lewis over Mirsad; Ford over whoever it was we picked in the second round that year; and, oh yes, Hakeem (then Akeem) over anyone else. As I said earlier, Okafor will be a solid player but his back problems and poor shooting range (especially from the line) will prevent greatness. Please, please, I would love to have to eat my words, but that's my current opinion.
While there's no guarantee with rookies, I'm fairly sure Okafor can make it. He's just a smart guy and you can see it on the court. You can see him improving all the time. When was the last time someone was projected as a good rebounder, shotblocker, and defender and flopped in those areas? Those areas, I believe, are easy to forecast from the College game to the NBA game. So basically it depends on whether he'll improve offensively, and that's definitely a risk. Has anyone seen Josh Howard or Josh Smith play? These two sound like great players that we can use too, but again, they're high schoolers, and I doubt JVG is capable of handling fragile highschoolers. Any thoughts on these guys?
I catch myself doing the same thing. I wish I knew the answers to your other questions, but as I said, these are my gut feelings at present regarding Okafor as opposed to Howard. Smith is one of those choices we might have if we traded for the Bobcat's #1 because both Howard and Okafor will be gone by #4 (the Bobcat's pick). If we had that choice, I wonder if we would go for Shaun Livingston or Josh Smith. Interesting. I hope we win it all so we don't have to worry so much about improving the team.
Personally, I don't think this draft has any solid choices beyond #1 and #2. That's why I'm reluctant to deal with the Bobcats. Unless we get the pick from the Bobcats, then send the pick somewhere else for some good pieces. Even the Clippers pick should be available. Lots of picks are available. We have tons of resources. I've said it before, I've said it again. This team has the bait necessary to become a contender by the beginning of next season, and a competent GM should be able to pull it off.
Duhon would fit nicely duhon/francis francis/mobley JJ/boki cato/mo yao/cato plus spoon and co. improves our 1 man bench dramatically and our D if duhon's leadership, playmaking and shooting transfer to the pros
I dont understand how anyone can be giving any love to Chris Duhon when there is a possibility of Devin Harris going pro from Wisconsin. He can post up....he knows how to move the ball to the big man in the post (thats the style of play at Wisconsin), and is an excellent shooter with a penchant for being extremely clutch in crunch time. He'd be lightyears better than Stevie at the PG position, and I'm amazed no one has mentioned him as a possibility (assuming he goes pro) yet.
Actually, I'd like to trade Steve for a player(s) that could "fit" on the team offensively and defensively. But along with that player(s), I wouldn't mind adding one (or more) of the long Euros -- Andriuskevicius, Chiriaev, Biedrins or even Podkolzine (in that order) to develop along with Nachbar. The fun part would be listening to Calvin slice and dice their names before giving them nicknames.
