in the clutchcity article, it said there was talk the Rockets could give another "top 13" pick if they won the lottery - but it can not be another pick. what if the rockets won the lottery and say had a top 3 pick and then decided to keep that pick. but trade away one of the players on their roster for a late lottery pick to complete the memphis trade requirements? Denver, Cleveland, Toronto, Miami, LA Clippers, Detroit , Chicago, Milwaukee, New York, Washington, Golden State, and Seattle are all possible trading partners if they don't land a top 3 pick that is. anybody here got any trade ideas that might work in getting back the lottery pick?
I don't think it really matters, this is just a 3 person draft anyways. Whoever the Rockets get in the lottery, will just sit on the bench with a guaranteed contract. The draft is irrelevant this year for the Rockets.
actually there are some interesting prospects beyond the top 3 picks, if you read the scouting reports on the mock draft on nbadraft.net
The only player we have that would bring a lottery pick (besides Yao and Steve) is Mobley (maybe). So lets look: Denver - figures to have a top 5 pick. No way they give that up for Mobley. Cleveland - Ditto. Toronto - They have Vince Carter and Mo Pete at the swing positions. Probably not interested. Miami - They have Carol Butler and E.J. at the wing positions. Probably not interested unless a package is worked out (say E.G., Mobley and Rice for Jones and their pick). LA Clippers - Maggette could be re-signed for about the same as Mobley makes. Clips love rookie contracts so I doubt they would want to give up the pick for Mobes. Detroit - They are set at the 2 with Richard Hamilton (he is a FA but Detroit has a team option that I am sure they will enact if they don't sign him long term). Chicago - Mobley would be an improvement for them at the 2. They will probably pick at the #7 spot. Is Mobley worth a #7 pick? Very intriguing. Milwaukee - If they lose Redd and Payton, they will be in dire need of backcourt help. Milwaukee could very well decide to fire Karl, dump Cassell and rebuild. In that case, I don't see a need for Mobley. However, if they decide to keep Karl on, Mobley would be an attractive option. New York - They have Houston and Sprewell. I don't think a Mobley offer would get them to part with that pick. Washington - If Stack does not re-sign, then they are very very thin in the backcourt (Dixon, Hughes and Jeffries). Washington is probably going to rebuild. They probably would want to keep the pick. Golden State - Jay Richardson is the starter. I don't think they would be interested in giving up their lottery pick for Mobley. Seattle - Same situation as G.S., except they have Ray Allen. So overall, Milwaukee, Chicago and Miami are our only hopes here. Chicago might be our only real hope.
well actually new york is known to covet eddie griffin and might be willing to part with their lottery pick and kurt thomas. (judging by their past dumb draft day trades, i'd say its possible. which might be the most attractive option? aside from griffin, other tradable commodities the rockets possess include cato, mobley, and probably maurice taylor.
N.Y. is known to covet E.G.? How do you know this? Also, I don't think N.Y. is eager to party with Thomas. He has a cheap contract and is pretty productive. Taylor is hardly a commoditie (Thomas is better and cheaper). Cato, maybe. But Cato is not worth a lottery pick and neither is Eddie Griffin.
true, some of the european prospects are overhyped on there, but they compared yao ming to rik smits, so they don't overhype everybody. just some players.
i think i heard that before the trading deadline that the knicks tried to trade for eddie griffin unsuccessfully. Thomas is a decent mid-range shooter and a decent defender, but he isn't a shot-blocker like eddie griffin and i think ny recognizes that griffin has a lot of potential and with ny desperate for a big man to replace mcdyess in their lineup, they'll probably give up thomas who's undersized at center and a low lottery pick which we can use to pay off memphis and if we get lucky and get a top 3 pick, lebron james or carmelo anthony become rockets.
You must have been thinking about the Hawks offering SAR at the deadline for Griffin (rumor). Thomas is not undersized at center in the East. Thats why he started 81 games there. I don't see how you can insinuate that Eddie would be an upgrade over Thomas for N.Y. Bottom line is, we have absolutely no combination of players that we can offer to get Thomas and their lottery pick in return.
no, i'm not talking about the shareef abdur rahim trade. i specifically remember reading about the knicks trying a stupid trade for eddie griffin which the rockets turned down in a heartbeat. thomas is a undersized center, but in the east, he's effective. but he's not a great shot blocker and he only has medium range. eddie can hit the medium range shot easily and can hit the long range shot on occasion. playing with the knicks system will be much easier for eddie and i think he'll become a star there. just look at how much better kenny thomas was utilized within philly's system. playing in the east also should make it easier on eddie and maybe speed up his development. the knicks have done some ridiculous trades that benefit the other team on more than one occasion. in case you don't remember, they traded nene hilario and marcus camby to the nuggets for an injured antonio mcdyess, which proves they're stupid. ny has also mentioned that they are intending to trade their lottery pick. eddie is a good shot blocker and the knicks already offered kurt thomas in exchange for eddie if i remember correctly.
Any team willing to give Houston a top 3 pick would have to be stupid. I would never allow a team to compile two starting All stars (yao and Francis) and then possibly draft a third. All of three of whom would be literal kids. That would be the epitomy of NBA suicide unless that team was so hamstrung by the salary cap that this was their only hope to get out of that mess.
well, i wasn't talking about trading eddie griffin for a top 3 pick. i was talking about trading him to the knicks for a late lottery pick, around 8-13 probably. that's do-able. in case you need more knick draft day blunders, remember this is the team that drafted frederic weis over ron artest. once the rockets acquire the 8-13 pick, they can send it to memphis to payoff the grizzlies. of course, this is only in case, the rockets land a top 3 pick in the lottery with their own pick which they currently owe.
<i>in the clutchcity article, it said there was talk the Rockets could give another "top 13" pick if they won the lottery - but it can not be another pick. what if the rockets won the lottery and say had a top 3 pick and then decided to keep that pick. but trade away one of the players on their roster for a late lottery pick to complete the memphis trade requirements? </i> I'm not sure how you are interpreting clutch's article, but what he said was: "We knew there was no protection on the pick, but there was talk the Rockets could give another "top 13" pick if they won the lottery - but it can not be another pick" Memphis gets our pick, no matter what. It can't be another pick...it has to be our pick. It can't be somebody else's pick. I'm guessing that you were thinking that if we traded for a pick, then that pick would become "our pick", so we could use it to fufill the obligation, but that's not how it works. If one of our 5 numbers wins the lottery, then Memphis gets the #1 pick and there is nothing we can do about it. So, effectively, there's no decision for the Rockets to make, Memphis already owns that pick.
are you sure about this? this is what i wanted clarified actually. cause clutch's article is kind of vague and can be interpreted either way.
You are saying that because Eddie is a good shot blocker (looking at the stats, he barely averaged .2 more than Thomas did), that N.Y. would be willing to overlook the fact that Thomas is a better shooter, scorer, rebounder, defender and passer than E.G.? Just so they can get that extra .2 (ok lets just say 1 for arguement sakes) block shot per game? I am not buying it and I feel you are reaching to justify your arguement. Thomas is, by far, a better all around player than Griffin. I also don't by your theory that NY offered Thomas for Griffin straight up. 1) That trade doesn't work under the cap. 2) N.Y. has proven (via the McDyess trade) that they are not interested in young, developing players, but rather, established players in an effort to avoid having to do a full blown rebuild. Also, Eddie, by himself, is not worth a lottery pick. No way. Never. Would not happen no matter how stupid the other GM may be.
well, i remember reading the rockets gm saying other teams were trying to help themselves more than they were trying to help the rockets and the knicks offer of kurt thomas for eddie griffin was mentioned; i'm not sure what other players were included. but they turned that down. and new york is actually trying to trade for younger inexpensive talent now, their strategy has recently changed since the owners of the knicks have sent the gm a message not to trade for overpriced veterans anymore. and eddie griffin who played for seton hall which is in the ny/nj area might be a hometown favorite that might draw fan interest?
Carol Dawson said the Knicks offered Thomas for Griffin? I don't believe this for a second. Dawson has a staunch history of not talking about trades that are in the works. Where are you getting this information? I think you are making it up or picking it up off a rumor you heard. So, if N.Y. doesn't want high priced veterans and we can both agree that Eddie, by himself, is not worth a lottery pick, then what makes you think we have something that the Knicks want, that would be worth a lottery pick (Cato and Taylor fit the "high priced veteran" bill perfectly)? Also, Eddie doesn't exactly strike me as a player that would help draw fan interest. lmao Besides, the one problem the Knicks don't have is fan interest or ticket selling problems. In fact, I believe the Knicks have one of the longest active sellout streaks in the league. lol
actually, the selling out streak stopped already. this season fans started cheering for losses. wanting a lottery pick like lebron james. but if the knicks lottery pick is low, they're gonna trade it and griffin could fill the center need in new york a bit better than kurt thomas in terms of potential. and in my opinion, griffin alone is worth at least a late lottery pick in itself and if the knicks are as stupid as i think they are, then they'll give us kurt thomas to sweeten the deal. as for cato, and taylor, they are both attractive commodities to teams besides the knicks. the knicks actually tried to sign taylor before unsuccessfully, but they probably wouldn't want him now seeing as he's too expensive. but other teams might have strong interest.
I think CD mentioned that Othella Harrington was offered for Griffin.The Knicks don't want to trade Kurt Thomas.
