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

Brooks for Cousins?

That's really the pertinent question.

Nobody loves Brooks more than me but, I gotta do that.

A. a waterbug scoring guard is an antidote to being out lengthed like we always are...or were. Brooks is so valuable in the 2011 NBA. It's like the Moneyball hitter that takes starting pitching out of the game early, Brooks can relentlessly run and score on a big slow team.

B. Cousins, man if you could properly motivate him visions of LeBron.

What does Coach Van Gundy think about his future in the NBA?

 

In all speculations, Cousins will be likely to end up at 5. Would I trade Brooks for Cousins? In a heartbeat. But flip that around: Would Sacramento trade Cousins for Brooks? Highly doubt it.

BUT here's the thing though: Yea it's risky to trade for the 5th pick before the 1st four picks are made but it's a HUGE bargaining chip for Morey to play with. If Cousins goes at @ #4, there are other teams out there that are drooling over getting Monroe or another prospect that they might overpay for the #5.

But it's all moot because I think Petrie is finally done trading with the Rockets. The past two years we've given them Carl Landry and Donte Greene in exchange for Kevin Martin and Ron Artest. Even though Artest is gone, a Landry/Greene-for-Martin swap can still be considered a steal.

 

IMO, Brooks has shown way more than either Green or Oden, but that's irrelevant. It doesn't have to be about Brooks. Here's what you said:

Replace Brooks' name with Marc Gasol. Does your reasoning hold up? Hell no. Where you got drafted means nothing.

 

How is it risky? They would get one of these 3 players for sure: Favors, Johnson and Cousins. All depends on how the rockets value Johnson and Favors. Personally I don't see Brooks alone as being enough to pry away that 5th pick.

 

What if none of those teams want to take the risk though? Then we are stuck with a guy that has potential, but in the end is never really that special.

Rockets are not in a desperate position, if the Rockets do make a trade I don't expect it to be before the draft. Rockets can sit back and draft a back-up center like Whiteside and then wait until FA for their big move.

If Cousins is at 5 though, or further down I do expect the Rockets to start calling teams.

 

Why would I replace Brooks' name with Gasol?

One player has ACTUAL college game experience against college competition and was a finalist for the Wooden award while the other was a pretty much unknown international player.

Your comparison has holes that you can't fill up. But lets go back to what I had asked earlier before people got insulted so easily:

Why would any GM trade their #5 pick for Aaron Brooks when that pick can turn out to be a GAME/FRANCHISE changer?

 

How can you guarantee that Johnson or Favors are going to be better than Brooks? You are going by purely potential. That's why it's risky. Johnson could turn out to be a guy that never scores over 15ppg and Favors could turn out to be the next Yi...while Brooks right now is one of if not the best scoring PG in the NBA right now.

 

Can turn out, but might not work out in the end.

 

I agree. The Rockets, of course, have players they would want to get if they had a Top 5 pick and they have their failsafe if they don't get the player they originally wanted. I was just posturing that the Rockets wouldn't be in a dire need situation if they ended up with a Top 5 pick and the player they were targeting was gone.

 

I am not guaranteeing anything, all depends on how the rockets value Favors or Johnson. Brooks alone will not get the rockets the 5th pick, I would be shocked if that happened. As a rocket fan I try to be objective and not over value the players on the team.

 

So you'd rather not take a risk to push this franchise forward and sit on a player that has probably reached his ceiling?

Don't get me wrong, Brooks' numbers from this past season are very good but he is by no means a franchise player. And that's the risk you take when you draft that high--you take a risk to acquire a franchise player.

If it doesn't work out and the player turns out to be a bust, then of course that's bad. But as much as we chant "In Morey We Trust", I'd like to think the CF collective will believe that whoever Morey picks (if it's a Top 5 pick) won't be a bust, given the track record he's had.

If it does work out and we get a franchise player, wouldn't you feel happy knowing that we turned an asset we acquired on the low into a franchise player for the future?

 

Dang, why is everyone on this board so high on the kid. Almost every report or interview I've seen, the first word that comes out of everyone's mouth is "immature." Immature players quit when the times get tough. I don't like players like that. With that said, he IS the most talented big out there. Ehh I think it's too much of a gamble if you ask me.

 

If you don't gamble, you don't win big. Morey's not blindingly going all-in without doing his homework and that's something that most seem to forget when the name DeMarcus Cousins comes up. The man makes calculated moves and, just because Cousins is a Top 5 pick, it doesn't mean this move isn't a calculated one as well.

 

Brooks is tradable............if we can acquire Jerome Randle to replace him.

Draft Express has Randle rated the #2 point guard in this draft. I think they've got it right. He's quicker than snot, great jumper, and he gets to the free throw line at a great clip. I think he's the perfect cross between Brooks and Lowry. I would love to trade Brooks since he is valued so high and replace him with Jerome Randle.

 

His comparison, and everyone else's reaction, is in response to this:

which is a dumb statement. as many (myself included) have noted, where someone was drafted has little impact on their value years later.

as a comparison, Marc Gasol was a 2nd round pick (or late first??) but would obviously go much higher now. I've already listed a ton of second round picks that further violate this statement.

not a big deal, but since people seem stuck on it...just move on, because I think generally,

your overall point stands. HOWEVER, in a generally agreed upon weak draft class, then a GM might. The 2006 draft for example. Everyone going in thought it was going to be one of the weaker drafts, and outside of Portland's success (Aldridge, Roy), it was.

Still, Roy didn't go until 6th in that draft, so a savvy GM still might not make that trade.

 

I've been saying Randle is a Brooks clone with deadlier shooting since before the NCAA tournament.

He'd be great here is we lost Brooks.

 

Randle is no where near as athletic as Brooks.

 

Dually noted but my original point, albeit probably wasn't so eloquently stated, is that Brooks is not worth a Top 5 pick and I'll stand by it.

So I'll apologize to you and MrButtocks if what I said wasn't clear enough.

 

but he isn't scared of contact like Brooks is. Randle would get to the line a ton more than Brooks does.

 

stupid to rate a player with actual NBA experience by his draft position.