Greg Smith is also outproducing #16 Terrence Jones and #18 Royce White. By your logic, while the Rockets made a great choice on Smith, they also made 2 bad choices then.
If he were a part of this year's draft the only players I would pick over him with certainty are Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard. If GMs were granted hindsight, Greg Smith would certainly be a top 10 pick in this year's draft. That being said, although Smith is very young, he's still not a rookie. It's expected that players improve from their rookie to sophomore year and I'm expecting MKG, Robinson et. al. to become much more productive next year so it's unfair to compare them in that regard.
According to OP's logic, the Rockets don't really need 1st round picks (Jones, D Mo, White) when they get more productive players in 2nd round or undrafted (Parsons, Greg Smith). Morey should trade his 1st round pick for a 2nd round pick every year!
Would you pick Smith over Terrence Jones or Royce White? Or would you pick Smith over Morris or DMo last year?
I admit I have the whole "undrafted bias" against Smith. If he was a top 10 pick, I'd be raving about him right now. But instead, I keep thinking his ceiling must be low or someone would've drafted him already. He certainly passes the eye test on offense though. His moves around the basket are simply amazing, very Landry-esque. He shoots FTs very well, which generally means he can be a consistent jump shooter. He moves great without the ball, always taking advantage of opponents closing in on our penetration. He's even shown some nice little post moves that make me think he can be an all-around player. But since he's undrafted, my default assumption is that he's nothing more than a role player despite being 21.
If GMs knew now what they didn't know then, Greg Smith probably would have been taken in the lottery. We got a major bargain with Greg. We also got bargains with TJ and Dmo to a lesser degree. Mook has turned out to be a pretty good pick as well. Morey & Co have done a great job.
That's right. Actually, everything outside of possibly Top 5 in the draft is a major hit or miss. Sometimes you hit, most of time you miss. Yeah, Morey sort of hit on Smith but he also had like 6-7 picks in 2 years to play this "hit or miss" game, of course he wouldn't miss all of them even by law of average.
He was good as a college sophomore (11.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.1 blocks) but not great. Typically GMs look for players that put up disgustingly good stats against weaker competition, instead of modest ones like Greg. Of course, it takes a truly savvy GM like Morey to understand what does and does not translate from the college game, and to find undrafted gems like Smith.
Also note that this is his second season out of college. To be super technical, "last year" Greg Smith was playing in the D-league, and was crushing fools there. 16.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks against better than college competition. I guarantee you Morey was cackling with glee watching this kid evolve into a force in the developmental league.
Here goes newbie posters undervaluing Rocket players again! Kyle Lowry is just a role player and would never be worth a lottery pick! Chase Budinger is a scrub no other team would want him! Carl Landry is overrated by clutchfans and has no real trade value! AB is a scrub with no trade value! Newbie posters that do not learn from past mistakes are doomed to repeat them. Stop underestimating DMs ability to find NBA talent in the 2nd round or undrafted free agents. How many times does he have find 1st round quality talent outside of the 1st round before you believe?
Too bad the NBA does not qualify rookies like MLB or he would be a rookie. No doubt Smith has profited from having an entire off season with the team.
