I don't know if this was posted: Two weeks until draft night, individual workouts began again Wednesday. And the hottest names aren't Yao Ming, Jay Williams or Mike Dunleavy. Instead, Nikoloz Tskitishvilli is becoming another Pau Gasol in the draft by taking on a meteoric rise in the final few weeks. Like Gasol, who went No. 3 in 2001, Tskitishvili is climbing and could go as high as No. 3 to the Warriors or more likely to the Grizzlies at No. 4. It doesn't matter that this is a 19-year-old who isn't the star for Benetton Treviso in Italy. Tskitishvili isn't the only player ascending. Teams are starting to be real high on Indiana's Jared Jeffries, a player the Wizards covet at No. 11, but who won't get past the Suns at No. 9. Further down in the draft, Kentucky's Tayshaun Prince is on the move and the Rockets could be interested at No. 15. Division II Shaw University guard Ronald Murray is also become a hot name and might slip into the late first round or higher. So, too, could Valparaiso's Lubos Barton, two players who seemed to have helped themselves out of Chicago more than was originally thought. Caron Butler and Curtis Borchardt could each slide because of Mike Dunleavy, if he stays in the draft, and Tskitishvilli's and Jeffries' climb -- even though neither Butler nor Borchardt are hurting themselves with anything they have done. But the movement in the lottery and a particular team's pressing need might force both down.
That is exactly the kind of pick that the Rockets were famous for a few years ago. 1. A player projected to go much later than the Rockets pick him. 2. A senior. 3. A good shooter. Kind of reminds me of the Roderick Rhodes pick -- without the jump shot, of course. Still, I'd be surprised if we took Tayshaun over one of the "Big Six" small forwards if they're on the board. p.s. I've had Tski going at Number Four in my mock since Day One.
Please don't draft this guy, there are people in Somalia with more meat on their bones than Prince. I'd be very surprised (and even more upset) if the Rockets use anything but their second round pick on Prince (hey, that doesn't sound like too bad of an idea)!
See Collier, Jason. For the record, I in no way support drafting Prince at 15, and I'm not too thrilled about drafting him period.
In fact, I was telling people that Moiso was going to be a bust from Day One, after having seen him play several times while I lived in LA. So there. Look, all I'm saying is the Rockets have had a history of surprising us with their draft picks by picking people much higher than they were projected. I'm not saying we will draft Prince, just that doing something unorthodox with the 15th pick wouldn't be that big of a shock. Can't we all agree on that point? Or maybe you were among the few to predict Roderick Rhodes, Kenny Thomas, and Jason Collier to be drafted exactly where we picked them? Hell, even Sam Cassell was drafted earlier than expected.
There are too many good players in this draft and too many players moving up for the Rockets to mess this one up (I hope). All they have to do is sit and wait because someone expected to go very high is going to fall. Especially if Dunleavy enters the draft, even Caron Butler may fall past #10.
Rockets won't draft Jefferson? Nene is going alot higher!(top 8) I understand what you mean. Rockets will pick the player they hardly talk about.(other than Ming) Two words come to mind when dealing with who the Rockets draft. SMOKE SCREEN!
Oh come on now boys... don't you know? It's all about wingspan these days <img src="http://www.clutchcity.net/images/tayshaun_prince4.jpg"> I just added him as a <a href="http://www.clutchcity.net/mockdraft_main.cfm" target="_blank">Mock Draft Madness</a> option because I want every possible top 15 guy in there.
Nah, Clutch is just adding him because Doc told him that he's going #15, and Clutch just wants to get his mock right. Prince kinda reminds me of Horry....he'll dissapear for the longest time, and reappear right when you're against the ropes, sometimes too late. Problem is, he's been the go-to guy, not a roleplayer so pulling an Horry isn't good, at least for Kentucky. Personally, I don't think he's that much of an upgrade over Morris. He makes a good zone SF because he's tall with long arms, but do we really need another zone guy, with probably 2 of the best shotblockers in the league on our team (Ming-Griffin). Morris has similar length and a little quicker. Offensively, he's better than Morris, but he's not going to be a guy we could put the scoring load on if needed.
What you talking about Clutch? I hope you are not talking DocRoccket? Prince is too slow and reminds me too much of Gatling!
Anyone think that this is another "Smoke Screen" with Rockets hopes of "reaching" on Grizzard rather than Prince? I think Rudy loves the idea of PF and Grizzard is very strong with handling the ball. My question, if given the choice between Grizzard or Prince, who would you rather see taken by the Rockets? For sake of argument, assume the Rox trade down in the draft, due to one of their golden-boy SF's not being there at #15 (and Butler ISN'T available via trade). NOTICE: Long time guest reader, first time reply on BBS, but the water is warm, so I'm going in...
tell you what. If the best options we have at #15 are Haislip and Nachbar, I am not opposed to trading down to get Prince and something else in return. The ideal option will be trading #15 to Utah for #19 and unprotected first rounder next year. I think Utah is lottery bound next year and, who knows, if we pull this off we may be having the #1 pick next year as well. Don't think Utah will go for this, though. A more realistic scenario will be Detroit at #23. Detroit has 2 first rounders next year (their own + Memphis's) and may give up one (theirs most likely). At the same time they may be back to the lottery next year. I think they greatly overachieved this year. Uncle Cliff is like 37 and there is just not enough talent in general on that team.
I was wondering who was gonna fall with all this talk of small forwards. It would be a dream for Butler to fall to 15. But, if he could fall outside the top ten or maybe even 8 if we don't trade for that pick in some other way, we might be able to somehow move up and grab him. Never know how it is all gonna play out. 2 mo ago, everyone thought Woods was going top three. Now, he might be there at 15. If we could get Ming and Butler out of the first round somehow and maybe a 4/5 defensive banger with no offensive game out of the second round, I think this would be a great draft. Now to be honest, I doubt Butler slips out of the top 5 despite what is being reported. But if what is being said is true, who knows what might happen.
land_sharks, glad you decided to 'dive in.' Warning, posting can become addictive. I'd go with Prince before Grizzard simply because Prince seems to be a better shooter. I haven't seen much of either play though, so I'm going off stats primarily. I'd be happy if the Rocks grabbed Prince in the second round like they did Dan Langhi, trading up if they had to. However, it really is contingent on his shooting. At this point I'd have to agree that it might be better to hope that TMo pans out.