Draftexpress has a mock draft where ronnie brewer and rodney carney are picked back to back, with the rockets choosing carney second. at 6'7 they both have great size for a SG, but which is a better fit for us? How are their games different? Who would you take?
I just can't see Carney getting past pick #6...so I don't think we'll have a chance to draft him. He is basically Richard Jefferson before he came out.
both of these guys are great athletes but have significant holes in their games. carney is great scorer but doesn't rebound or defend like he should be able to. brewer plays very hard and smart and is a good defender and rebounder, and ball handler. scores well but has a funky looking jumper that is inconsistent and isn't a very good catch and shoot, shooter. i don't see how either one of these guys goes lottery unless the draft class is that weak. i see them both as mid-first round picks, between 14-20. if danny granger and gerald green go 17 and 18, no way these two go higher. the rockets should be able to get better if we do end up in the mid to late lottery, hopefully we don't, but if we do i would want better than these two.
Umm...so in that case, since Gilbert Arenas was drafted in the 2nd round, I guess nobody in this draft should be drafted in the lottery. If Martel Webster is worth the 6th pick, how are these 2 players not? Anyway, Granger slipped quite a bit since he was from a small school and had some injury issues. You get lucky in every draft, but there are more busts than steals. Carney is everything the rockets need. He is atheletic, can shoot, and has great speed. This draft class is NOT weak at all...just pretty evenly distributed in terms of talent. Picks 4-10 will be very unpredictable since many of these top players rank similar.
i'm not saying that these guys can't play. both are intriguing talents. but their value is not in the lottery. there are too many holes in their games to be a top 10 pick. i've seen both of them play a pretty good amount and they don't blow me away as being great nba prospects, and that is what you want when you are picking in the top 10, a great nba prospect. plus, the rockets need to get a tough, bruising PF before a SG/SF. that would benefit this team quicker than a SG/SF, because yao needs someone up front who can provide toughness, defense, rebounding and a consistent scoring option. shelden williams would be ideal, if we can't pick him up i would see what we could get for trading the pick and acquiring a late first rounder or early second rounder for a guy like paul milsap or brad buckman.
now that's the crux of it. Though i agree about a beast of a PF as a major need, I have little faith in Sheldon turning into anythig but serviceable. mainly because I don't think his shot is there, and he's not going to transition as well to the big boys. He's also big, but I don't feel the fire in him I suppose. I'm an ACC boy btw, so i tend to catch more of these games.... Brewer is listed as a PG/SG.... thought that was interesting, thought that never works out, but I do think we need a mobley with height. Someone who can nail the long ball, drive it, and of course play solid D. I also think the depth at PF is pretty weak.
Shelden Williams sucks. He's undersized and has a 2-foot range. I've been pretty impressed with the kid from Nova, Randy Foye, though. He's got a good shot, can pass, and dribble penetrate. He rebounds well for a little guy too.
shelden williams will never be a scoring machine in the nba but he will be a very good PF for a long time. he's the type of PF that every center in the nba dreams about. a great rebounder, defender, and shot blocker. no, i don't think he will ever average more than 12-14 ppg, but he'll give you 10+ rebounds and 2 blocks everynight.
