If there was an NBA expansion draft, which Rockets players would you protect?

Protected

Luis Scola
Kevin Martin
Aaron Brooks
Chase Budinger
Jordan Hill
Ish Smith
Patrick Patterson
Courtney Lee

Unprotected

Kyle Lowry
Yao Ming
Shane Battier
Jermaine Taylor
Chuck Hayes
Brad Miller

 

Surprised so many are protecting Yao, while I agree it's risky, the risk itself is minimal because of the HUGE contract, health and his FAgent status. Also consider only ONE Rocket can be chosen so some of the guys with bigger deals like Lowry, Martin and Yao won't be chosen while guys like Brooks, Ish, PP and Taylor are locks to be chosen due to their contracts before those other guys. Worst case scenario, Yao gets chosen...that is a 17 million dollar T/E that could be useful and it won't effect whatever cap room we might have.

 

Would Courtney Lee be taken if he was unprotected? I would think maybe not.

As far as PatPat, I would rather keep Ish.

 

• Patrick Patterson
  [*]Luis Scola
  [*]Kevin Martin
  [*]Aaron Brooks
  [*]Jordan Hill
  [*]Courtney Lee
  [*]Ish Smith
  [*]Chase Budinger
• Kyle Lowry
• Shane Battier
• Jermaine Taylor
• Chuck Hayes
• Brad Miller
• Yao Ming
• Jared Jeffries

I struggled with this greatly.

I finally decided that making sure we keep the young cheap talent was more important than keeping most vets. The reason I kept Aaron is that I figure we could extend him for cheaper than finding a replacement

It goes against everything I have in me not to protect Chuck.. but I figured that it was less likely that he would be chosen than anyone else

Choosing between protecting Kyle or Ish was also very difficult, but I decided that Ish's itty bitty contract was a better investment to protect than Kyle's larger one

I thought at first Yao would be a given - but when I started adding up who I wanted to protect I was running out of slots - so I decided that maybe they might consider him too risky an investment to make? I may regret not protecting Yao and protecting Kevin instead.

Good exercise though Clutch!

 

Time to blow this team up. We are stuck in the middle and I'd just play the young guys and see who has what it takes. So I would protect...

• brooks
• patterson
• scola
• lee
• bud
• ish
• hill
• taylor

PG Brooks/Ish
SG Lee/Taylor
SF Bud
PF Scola/Pat
C Hill

Yao generates a nice TE. Martin and Lowry are likely not picked, but it would be nice.

 

Protected

Yao Ming
Luis Scola
Shane Battier
Kevin Martin
Aaron Brooks
Chase Budinger
Jordan Hill
Patrick Patterson

Unprotected

Chuck Hayes (tough one between him and Patterson; I'm protecting the deal/upside, not the current player)
Kyle Lowry (please take this contract)
Ish Smith
Courtney Lee
Jermaine Taylor
Brad Miller (please take this contract)
Jared Jeffries

 

• Yao Ming
• Luis Scola
• Kevin Martin
• Aaron Brooks
• Shane Battier
• Chase Budinger
• Kyle Lowry
• Jordan Hill
• Courtney Lee
• Jermaine Taylor
• Ish Smith
• Chuck Hayes
• Brad Miller
• Jared Jeffries
• Patrick Patterson

I could easily go down to 6 or 7 if need be, and am on the fence about Yao.


DD

 

Yao Ming - he very well could get picked for marketing reasons alone
Luis Scola - currently best player on the team
Kevin Martin - currently second best player on the team
Aaron Brooks - cheap contract; good scorer
Courtney Lee - cheap contract; versatile player
Chase Budinger - very cheap contract
Patrick Patterson - highly regarded prospect by the organization

For the eighth spot, I'd debate between the following:

Jordan Hill - slow to develop; organization doesn't really love him that much
Kyle Lowry - forget recent play; they'd hope he's not picked for his contract
Ish Smith - cheap contract; may be ideal expansion team backup PG
Chuck Hayes - hope that expansion team is stupid and won't take him
Shane Battier - hope that expansion team doesn't want to pay that salary

No expansion team would select Brad Miller (multi-year deal) or Jared Jeffries ($6.88M this season).

Remember, there's no reason to protect BOTH Lowry and Smith or ALL of Hill, Patterson and Hayes. The Rockets can only lose one player, and only one out of each group will actually have a long-term place in the Rockets' rotation.

I think you'd see the expansion team select from among Jermaine Taylor, Jordan Hill or Ish Smith. If I was a smart GM, I think I'd take Chuck Hayes late in the expansion draft. There aren't many 26-year-old elite defenders that become readily available, and the expansion team certainly wouldn't draft a guy like Chuck in the lottery over the next several years. Chuck's an ideal backup PF to help defend and teach your lottery pick the ropes.

 

Scola
Martin
Brooks
Budinger
Yao
Lowry
Hayes
Ish or Hill

 

Protected:
Luis Scola
Kevin Martin
Aaron Brooks
Jordan Hill
Patrick Patterson
Ish Smith
Chase Budinger

Protected, if he doesn't retire:
Yao Ming

Unprotected:
Kyle Lowry
Courtney Lee
Chuck Hayes
Jermaine Taylor
Brad Miller
Jared Jeffries
Shane Battier

 

Find a guy you like off another team's list and give the expansion team 2 second round picks for that guy with the tacit understanding that they can pick JT or Jeffries but nobody else.

So, you solve your problems by essentially trading JT or JJ and picks for another scrub you're intrigued by.

 

Yao Ming*
Luis Scola*
Kevin Martin*
Aaron Brooks*
Shane Battier*
Chase Budinger
Kyle Lowry
Jordan Hill*
Courtney Lee*
Jermaine Taylor
Ish Smith*
Chuck Hayes
Brad Miller
Jared Jeffries
Patrick Patterson

 

Yao Ming
Luis Scola
Kevin Martin
Aaron Brooks
Shane Battier
Chase Budinger
Kyle Lowry
Jordan Hill
Courtney Lee
Jermaine Taylor
Ish Smith
Chuck Hayes
Brad Miller
Jared Jeffries
Patrick Patterson


Vegas would probably take Ish,Taylor, or Lee.

 

Yao Ming
Luis Scola
Kevin Martin
Aaron Brooks
Shane Battier
Chase Budinger
Ish Smith
Patrick Patterson

 

This seems like the inverse of something I was eluding to in the post game discussion. I would protect:

Brooks
Martin
Budinger
Hill
Scola
Battier
Ish
Hayes

My logic here is impact factor divided by salary. Battier is the only maybe on my list mainly because I think he provides a lot of behind the scenes but comes at a cost in scoring and salary. He is the only player who is on the fence on my list. I think Shane should stay on with this organization even after he retires in some capacity, and that is the main force to drive me to say he should still be a Rocket.

If you notice I didn't include Yao on my list. Yao is in the same boat as Battier but on the other list. Yao comes at a great cost in terms of both salary and injury proneness. If another team is willing to gamble on him then fine, but most likely it will be as much of a perplexing decision for them to pick him up as it is for us to keep him. Yes, Yao does put this team on the map, and yes, Yao does bring in a substantial amount of cash in the China market. However, I feel he is still too risky for an organization in a lets win now mode.

 

Why would you protect Yao? He'd be a max level trade exception which at this point in his career would be more valuable than his contributions on the court.

 

Protected
Yao Ming - Best centre in the NBA
Luis Scola - All-star player
Kevin Martin - Efficient scorer
Aaron Brooks - M.I.P. and triple treat player
Chase Budinger - Great young athlete and shooter
Jordan Hill - Potential Stoudemire with better defence
Ish Smith - Great court vision/passer/handling
Courtney Lee - Plays offense and defence

Unprotected
Shane Battier - Is getting older and Chase Budinger is cheaper
Kyle Lowry - Ish Smith is cheaper and almost as good
Patrick Patterson - Jordan Hill is at the moment a better player (will be picked up)
Chuck Hayes - Too small, but great defender
Brad Miller - Old and large contract
Jermaine Taylor - Has great potential but have better SGs (will be picked up)
Jared Jeffries - Benchwarmer with large contract

 

First of all, only ONE player from a team can be selected in the expansion draft.

Also, what's your point about Hill over Patterson? Of course Hill's slightly better. Patterson hasn't gotten the experience that Hill has. The organization feels that Patterson is the better player, though.

I am currently a better player than the #1 overall pick of the 2026 NBA Draft, but I would rather take that kid's prospects.

 

He still is a one of a kind player. You can't trade for a better centre.

We should have tanked last year and let the rookies play more. Could have a shot at John Wall... and go for the title this year .

 

• Yao Ming
• Luis Scola
• Kevin Martin
• Aaron Brooks
• Shane Battier
• Chase Budinger
• Kyle Lowry
• Jordan Hill
• Courtney Lee
• Jermaine Taylor
• Ish Smith
• Chuck Hayes
• Brad Miller
• Jared Jeffries
• Patrick Patterson

Protecting 7. I would welcome a TE for any of the non-bold players.