Royce would be rated higher if it wasn't for his anxiety disorder. I like Harkless' willingness to defend and upside but Royce is a good passer and can shoot/rebound.
It is a fallacy to only look at players picked EXACTLY at pick #16. It completely discounts every good player taken AFTER the 16th pick and presupposes that every team will use exactly the same criteria in making its decisions on who to take at #16. Just because the particular #16 picks don't pan out doesn't mean that YOUR team wouldn't have picked another player taken later who ended up being a very good player or even an All-Star. I agree with Joe Joe here. While I didn't agree with the pick at the time (thinking that the Rockets had taken Morris to play PF), I will at least acknowledge that drafting Morris as a SMALL FORWARD was a home run swing. The Rockets were swinging for the fences there, hoping for a (near) All-Star caliber "power 3" like a Carmelo Anthony type. Sure, they may strike out with the Morris pick (which, IMHO, was not as "safe" a pick as Kawhi Leonard), but the maximum upside of Morris as a SF is higher than Leonard's max upside. It was clearly a risky pick. But aren't most "swings for the fences"?
I didn't see the skill set to be a true 3. His post game looked very good,but it was obvious that he had a lot of holes,especially defensively. I thought he might be better as a small 4. To be a high caliber player,you can't rely on a few good points.
Good point. Still, I give anyone 16 and beyond a less than 5% chance of making significant contributions to a good team. I give them less than a 1% chance of being an actual star. My point was, take someone who you think can be a success. If they flop, there's a very good chance anyone else you would have drafted would have been a flop as well (although, I dont think 'flop' is the correct term for someone drafted outside of the top 5 or so).
Did you watch any of the NBA Draft Combine? Day 1 Terrence Jones was dominating Royce "the uber athletic beast" White you speak of. If anyone is the raw physical specimen of the draft it's gotta be T-Jones and P-Jones III. I agree that Zeller is too safe of a pick and if we do select him I'd prefer to give the pick up to move down and scoop up Zeller. That being said I doubt we leave the draft with 2 first round rookies. The verdict is still out on Morris, he's a work in progress and NO he was not drafted as the NBA ready tweener, that's what Leonard was given why the Spurs, a playoff contender, traded to pick up his rights. I'd still make that pick over Kawhi if we had to do it again.
Why would we draft a small forward at all? Obviously Chad Ford has never heard of Chandler Mother*****ing Parsons.
I seriously doubt that Zeller will be on the board past #14. Maybe, MAYBE Philly passes him at up #15 and the Rockets can just get him with the #16 pick; but I think Philly would get plenty of calls for that #15 pick from teams wanting to trade up/into that slot to draft Zeller. I agree that the Rockets ought to give some preference to taking high-ceiling players with at least one of their two picks, but I really think people are sleeping on Zeller's upside. While not tremendous, he projects as an above-average NBA center. It doesn't scream out ALL-STAR to anyone, but getting even an above-average center in this league is quite a steal with a mid-first round pick. Frankly, if the Rockets can trade for a star or move up in the draft, I'm okay using one of the picks on a solid guy like Zeller. There will be several "high ceiling" options on the board at #16. Hell, teams may be able to just buy a later pick to take a guy like Quincy Miller. On a team that couldn't even get two of its "highest upside" players (T-Will & Morris) on the freaking court last season, and with Motiejunas coming over while trying to crack a PF rotation that currently includes Scola and Patterson (good luck with that, barring a trade), it would be nice to add a TRUE CENTER via the draft who can both walk and chew gum at the same time. With a Dalembert draft-day trade quite likely, and with no guarantees that Camby will re-sign, the Rockets sure could use a center on its 2012-13 roster. And it's not even like the Rockets would be reaching for Zeller. The #14 pick is his FLOOR according to most "draft experts", and not just because the Rockets are picking there. Zeller is that good. Bottom line: He's not a sexy pick, but Tyler Zeller at #14 would be just fine by me.
Just spoke with my friend who is a huge UNC fan; he's probably seen every one of Zeller's UNC games and is a pretty keen observer. He thinks Zeller will be a career 15-10 who shoots FTs in the mid-80s and runs the lanes better than any big man in college basketball (acc to Jay Bilas). I told him about the 14/Zeller, 16/Harkless Rocket scenario. Then I told him about the 17/Kendall Marshall to Dallas pick and he counseled to go with Marshall at 16.... NEW FAN!
If I remember correctly, the one thing they didn't do at the combine is play 5-on-5 basketball. You know, the thing that these guys will be hired to do? As such, I wouldn't put too much stock on who is dominating whom at the combine drills. We talking about drills, not a game. We talking drills. Drills. Not a game. Anyhow, the best thing about White is his court vision for PF, which is much more useful in a 5-on-5 setting. Also, one thing about the combine is that it matches players next to each other so perhaps you can tell how they'd compare with NBA level talent, but I am not sure it says much about White since he's already played against the likes of UConn and Kentucky and done well in them. Picking two UNC players from the same draft?
I may have a suspicious mind, but do you think that Morey had Parsons identified and slotted for the second round pick last year?
Nice thorough thoughtful analysis Bima. As always. What really scares me is if Leonard and Zeller are both off the board at 14.
Hate to see all this hateful Marcus Morris talk. He was a "project rookie" from the very first day. Chill honey bunny. TELL THAT b**** TO CHILL!
A project rookie b****es about D-League assignment to Jerome Solomon. A project rookie plays poorly in D-League. D-League team went 2-9 during a Project rookie's stint. A fan is not impressed with a project rookie.
Is Zeller a true 7-footer? His standing reach is 8'8''. 6'6'' Chuck Hayes has a 8'8.5'' standing reach. As such Zeller is functionally a 6'5.5'' player, not a 7-footer.
Patrick Patterson has a 8'11'' standing reach. So if Hayes is a functional seven footer, then Patterson is functionally 7'2.5'', which explains why coach McHale liked playing him as a center.
A fan is putting a lot of stock into some junior college pickup basketball, known as the DLeague. Marcus Morris has been dominant in structure at a high level, not talentless drive and kick basketball. A fan needs to chill, honey bunny...
