We have 1 pick in the 1st and none in the 2nd, so we need to make this count. We hold the 26th overall pick in a draft that is said to be one of the deepest in years. The strength of the draft overall is with guards and forwards, with 15 of them slated to go in the 1st. 6 centers will receive 1st round grades which is above average. 7 power forwards will get 1st round grades as well, 4 of them likely going in the lottery. Point guard is the weekest position, with only 2 guaranteed 1st rounders (Conley and Law) and 2 borderline 1st rounders (Pruitt and Sessions) C Oden Hawes Hibbert Thabeet Gasol Gray PF Wright Horford Jianlan Noah Splitter Mcroberts Smith SF Durant Green Brewer Wright Thornton Young Byars Tucker Mcguire SG Batum Bellinelli Young Fernandez Afflalo Williams Almond Stuckey PG Conley Law Pruitt Sessions As to what we need and who fits our team, we need a PG to backup Rafer and can actually run the team and hit open jumpers. After Conley and Law, none of them actually fit. We don't need to draft a PG this year. Deke will probably come back, and Jake has proven to be an adequate backup. With a dominant center as our starter and many other needs, it would be foolish to take a center in the 1st. Power forward is one of the bigger needs. Juwan has been reborn this year, but he's still getting old. Chuck will never be any better than he already is; a hustle player who rebounds. Jason Smith, Josh Mcroberts, and Tiago Splitter have the best chance of falling to us. Mcroberts is a douche and I hope we stay away from him. We need someone physical and can defend the paint. Splitter does that and provides size at 6'11. Smith is a 7 footer with a good midrange shot. He's not fast or quick, but he would really compliment Chuck's game with his offensive skillset. He's a much better overall athlete than Nick Fazekas as well, who plays a similar game and has significantly more upside/potential. I'll put SG and SF in the same category because we have starters at those positions already, but a backup for either spot is sorely needed. Why? Because we need a scorer that can come off the bench that isn't under 6'5. Morris Almond, Derrick Byars, and Aaron Afflalo should be at the top of our board. Big Board Derrick Byars- Good overall athleticism and can score and defend. Morris Almond- Pure scorer who can shoot and drive to the hoop Tiago Splitter- Big PF with decent athleticism and can defend the post Aaron Afflalo- Good defender and can hit the open jump shot out to 3pt range...except in the final 4. Jason Smith- Good size at 7 feet and can run the floor. Nice shot. Rodney Stuckey- Combo guard who has legit PG skills. A better SG than PG, but he did average 5.5 assists and 25ppg Those are the players I think we should focus on. Byars and Afflalo are definite JVG type players who should be able to see playing time right away. Almond is a proven scorer, but hasn't shown he can defend. He has the tools to be a good defender, just needs to show it. I'm not too sure about Splitter, but he has nice size and is a proven defensive presence. Whether he has the mentality and attitude JVG expects out of his players is questionable. If all of those guys are gone by the time we pick, Jason Smith would make for a nice project. Stuckey would be a good pick as well to be a bench option.
law sure would be a perfect fit for us if we could snag him. he is even a senior so he has a lot of experience already. cross my fingers on that one.
This draft seems so deep Im thinking we should trade to move up. The future is now for the Rockets but some youth is never a bad thing..
when i said snag i meant some kind of trade. meaning a trade with someone like the clips or nets that dont need a PG draft him. we give them this and next years pick. or maybe chuck hayes with this years pick (if he has a impressive postseason) and then we can pick up a PF with the MLE. sounds good to me
