[Draft Express] Houston making "major push" to acquire #4 pick

me thinks if everyone is saying we're moving up to get Cousins, Morey is actually targeting someone else. Maybe Wesley Johnson or someone of that ilk. Obviously, Wall, Turner, and Favors are probably out of reach, but that next tier of players: Cousins/Johnson/Monroe/Amino/et. al. are certainly interesting!

 

Jefferson is a terrible comparison for Cousins. Jefferson is 100x quicker and more agile than Cousins.

 

Why won't he be ready to contribute? He is ready to rebound and score some, now. Defense, it'll take some time.

 

Unlike Andersen he can bang it down low right away.

 

My impression has been that he's one of the guys that could make an impact as a rookie.

 

Isolate Cousins in space against Yao and he'll looks 100x faster than he really is, just as Big Al does. Point being, he has borderline stud talent for a big man, ala Jefferson. His strength translates. His quickness, though not at the level of say Dwight Howard, is above average for his size, as well. His footwork, at this fledgling state of his career, translates, too. I shudder at the thought of Cousins receiving steady instruction from the master of destruction - Hakeem.

 

He has to lose some weight. That is.

 

Not anymore.

 

Yep, I hear, Demarcus Cousins = NBA ready

 

Yeah, but would could jefferson be your #1 player? If it were me and this is just me and looking at where this team is right now, jefferson makes alot more sense than cousins. Jefferson makes more sense 4 yrs from now. I look at teams in 4 yr windows because thats how long you have unless you have a superstar like kobe,james, and a few others.

Like it or not and I don't really care, the rockets are tied to Yao. I think its foolish, but its cool because i think he's a great guy and a god basketball player. Lets say Yao shows sign of being healthy and in those 25 mins or so, he's 14ppg 6 rebounds and a defensive presence. Lets say they sign him for 3 yrs at 11m per. Lets also say they trade battier,andersen,hill for jefferson. So now they have brooks,martin,ariza,jefferson,and Yao. Since they kept chase,scola(on a 1yr tender),lowry(1yr tender) jeffries( odom's matchup), taylor,chuck,the 14th pick. Since scola and jeffries are in the last year, the team can draft sanders,alabi,whiteside as developmental guys. Since jefferson can slide and play center effectively, scola will get 30+ minutes this year and jeffries will get some dependent on matchups. The drafted big can just work in the d-league. The rokets would still have mle,lle availible to use this year if they please. Healthy and on paper, thats a really,really good team. The flexibility of jefferson keeps them with a post presence even with yao off the floor. The presence of jefferson gives them a guy who can block shots when teams pull yao away from the rim. Yao continues to show he can stay healthy, but they don't have to have him in the post all the time,initiating the offense,nor playing more than 30 mins. If they make the trade for cousins,we're in another phase altogether no matter what p.r. game management is pushing down peoples throats.

 

Somebody put up two pics of Cousins side by side when he was playing and during the draft combine. The dude looked really chunky in the combine. You can't have that much fat% and not have that show.

 

I haven't seen photos of him at the combine, but I believe that he was heavier, if his fat content was that high. During the season, he looked damn good.

 

He's not a fat guy by any means, he's just solid, but will always fight the scale war. Just like other "thick" guys have the same battle. What bother me about him is if he's not playing alot, will he be professional enough to do his work everyday? Its easy to gain weight when you're not playing alot. Those road trip dinners to top notch eateries will get you. His discipline is what I really worry about.

 

I agree Cousins was really quick but he wasn't THAT quick, at least not quick enough for you be raving about it. Maybe if he wasn't overweight and didn't have all these mental red flags he'd be the best C prospect since...well Oden (pre-injury), but the truth is his lack of work ethic will lower his ceiling quite a bit. Everything depends on the package Kahn will accept. If we end up giving Hill and the 14th for Cousins no way is that good value.

What made Shaq special wasn't just his strength, its his combination of strength speed and athleticism. Shaq in his prime was extremely explosive, he wasn't winning any marathons but in terms of short bursts of speed he was unmatched. Cousins has that too, but the difference between Shaq and Cousins is like heaven and earth.

 

Actually he had the 2nd highest fat% in draft express' database. So yeah, he's a fatty. If he wasn't a fatty no NBA draftee is.

 

LOL.

Al Jeff

height 6' 8.5"
w/shoes 6' 9.75"
weight 263
wingspan 7' 2.5"
reach 9' 2"
nostep vert 28.5
max vert 30.0
max reach 11' 8"
lane agil 13.08
running 3.29

DeMarcus Cousins
6' 9.5"
6' 10.75"
292
7' 5.75"
9' 5"
23.5
27.5
11' 8.5"
11.40
3.55

so, he's 100x quicker and more agile? Cousins is longer, stronger, and quicker than Al Jeff. Like I mentioned in the draft section, he's a taller/stronger version of Big Al in terms of body style and good post moves, along with a Rasheed Wallace-lite demeanor.

 

<object width="500" height="300" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" id="ESPN_VIDEO" data="http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf" allowScriptAccess="always" allowNetworking="all"><param name="movie" value="http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="wmode" value="opaque"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"/><param name="flashVars" value="id=5293484"/></object>

I posted this on the other thread...its an inside look at Cousins...

--RB

 

he was actually pretty thin back in high school, so im not sure he's really that kind of player who genetically carries more weight on him....so it does reaise the question, did he gain so much weight because of a poor work ethic off the court or did he just over eat in an attempt to bulk up?

 

That's a legitimate concern. The guy being as young as he is, there's two ways to look at it. #1 The guy is really young and will learn if he's in an environment that insures that he getting the right coaching and training. #2 The guy is really young, will get his contract, and then blow everyone off and simply eat his way out of the league. This second scenario is where you have to trust Morey's judgement with Cousins, so that you get "option one."

 

Leeb:

I have no problem with your Jefferson proposition. IMO, he would be out #1 post option next year in said situation. Now, can he be out ## overall player and have us in the O'Brien contention? Probably not. So we'd still need to augment our team with an upgrade in the backcourt.

Cousins would serve the same purpose at a lower price tag, which wouldn't keep us out if trade discussions for an upgraded wing. Fwiw, I'd have ZERO problems moving, say, Brooks, Bud, Shane, salary fill and the NYK pick(s) for CP3. Now your looking at

Paul
Martin
Ariza
Scola
Cousins/Yao

Yao/Cousins
Hill
Lowry
Taylor

as your primary 9 man rotation.