A good % of those points came against a different player. Edey is the 2 time national player of the year (1st player to do it unanimously 2 years in a row in over 50 years). He took more shots than the rest of the starters combined. He is a senior and Clingan is a sophomore. Those are some of the things that are quite important.
Are those things really quite important? The NCAA tournament has a long history of players of the year getting schooled by underclassmen. Why did Edey get his points against others if Clingan is 7'2" and a defensive stopper? Why wasn't Clingan on him all the time? You know who else is the equivalent of a 5th or 6th year senior? Everyone Clingan will be guarding in the NBA.
Clingan is the only top prospect I'm not high on for us. Even disregarding fit, I'm not sure why he's considered significantly better than walker kessler. I can see it working for the others though. I'd probably lean towards Sheppard. I think he has the highest floor. There's a world where any one of the other top guys could be a complete bust. But, also all the top guys potential is sometime all star. No one grades out as a surefire superstar. He showed flashes of his talent early on.
IF that guy can improve his shooting, he's an offensive engine in the Harden / Luka mold of big guards that get downhill and facilitate off of that. Four players I really like at the top of this draft .... all quite different. Risacher Sheppard Topic Castle
Except neither can shoot. You can't have a NBA team full of guys that are no threat at scoring the basketball.
I don't know **** but based on watching his highlights clingan looks like garbage Sure if we had the other 4 positions stacked and filled with shooters I'm sure he would be a good fit and may find that fit in the nba but our team is not that
Clingan at 3 would be crazy Rockets drafting Sengun’s backup with the 3rd pick has gotta be some sort of media troll campaign
The only way it even makes sense is if we're moving Sengun to the 4. We have bigger needs to fill than his backup when we've got Adams and Jock.
Idiot. That’s why we got Adams. Clingan will not be as good as Adams this upcoming year. The best thing we could do to insure a real shot at the playoffs is to add Brogdon or another vet SG in case Jalen fails. Another year of experience with Ime and our core should make us one of the most exciting teams in the NBA. Amen getting 30 mins a game from the start of the season and having Tari back should easily get us to 50 wins.
I don’t even think it makes any sense in that scenario either because Sengun is a very weak shooter and none of Adams, Landale, or Clingan are shooters or floor spacers and now the tweet below me is talking about having 48 min of Sengun/Clingan as some necessary thing in the West if the Rockets are serious about contention and winning a round or 2…lol, gimme a break Clingan would be seeing 15 min max over here being nothing more than Sengun’s backup, and that’s what we’re using the 3rd pick on…I swear people want to see the Rockets make the worst decisions so that we can get clowned on later
There are major question marks with each prospect, this is why people call it a weak draft: Sheppard: - he is small with short arms - he struggles to create his own shot Topic: - had injury trouble - can‘t shoot - subpar defense Klingan: - no outside shot - can he switch on defense Risacher: - can‘t create his own shot That being said, each of these players have true upside - and I like a lot about Dillingham for example as well. Each of these guys could turn into a star and each could be a bust. I think the best chance of becoming a star has Topic (his FT percentage is an indication, that he could develop a 3), followed by Risacher (he has all the tools). But I would still prefer Sheppard. His shooting is special, as is his tenacity on defense. But I truly wouldn‘t be disappointed by any of these guys.
I could see it being misinformation intended to make it less obvious what the Rockets want. They were pretty open about wanting Banchero over anyone else and I think that played a part in the Magic changing their mind and taking Banchero at the last minute. I don't think they want a repeat of that with Sheppard.
My philosophy is always draft for upside. Always. Trade and free agency are the tools for roster balancing. I don't think Clingan has the upside a top 5 pick needs. On another note this draft is so convoluted there's a decent chance of getting sniped by #2 if fans get too set on someone.
I think you are on to something. Not necessarily about Sheppard, but I’d guess the Rockets FO would absolutely be interested in listening to offers to move down within the top ~9 if they could get a real future first out of it. Stone is just freerolling with this pick anyway. IMO the player most likely to induce a trade up is Clingan with the Grizzlies. I could see it with Risacher as well if he falls, as the only big wing who can shoot - SAS, POR, and DET could bid to move up for him. So you’ll probably see the Rockets stoke uncertainty that they may pick any of these guys to keep trade possibilities open. You won’t see Givony or Vecenie saying “We’re confident the Rockets want to take x player” before the draft.
