Iko implies Smith was at the top of Houston's board...

Yep. And in the process finagled $100 million in vegas.

 

I dont recall any draft like this...theres BAD years like when theres a consensus lack of talent; although scouting has definitely inproved from the late 90s/2000s. Especially with the internet and guys not being able to jump from Prep to Pro

 

This is gonna be a good 30 for 30 or SBNation investigation.

 

Only if they KNEW that Jabari was our #1. I've not seen any proof that they knew that If all along they wanted Banchero and that was kept hush they might have gotten Banchero at 1-3 along with some of our other assets. Everyone THOUGHT they were taking Jabari until they weren't at 2 AM and then DIDN'T at 8 PM. Maybe they were setting a trap for us all along. I'd have taken any of the big three any way they fell and been thrilled.

 

At the top of the draft its always best player. Banchero WAS that guy after all the sarcasm, snide comments and the doubts of how good of a prospect he was and how HIS flaws were more glaring to be taken at 1. For a guy who watched him since high school I feel justified for the support. I think he could very well turn out to be the best player from this draft, but that doesnt mean that I wont support Jabari and always root for the Rockets. It was just interesting how Jabari was touted as a near consensus late in the process and then was passed over by both teams in front of Houston. Just a curious observation.

Jabari is a great player today and could possibly develop into a better one. I can see the excitement. He should offer high level complimentary play plus a much needed injection of defense. Im not running around bad mouthing Jabari by any means and dont feel like as a fanbase dwelling on the debates regarding the prospects this year is productive at all moving forward - similar to what happened last year with the hurt feelings regarding "missing out" on Mobley. Im a Rocket fan first and foremost and will not carry over any negative feelings into the season. Hopefully its one of the last times we talk about Banchero in the GARM. Lets all move on.

I hope last years draft class takes a big step forward and Stone can start weeding the garden for a return back to contention. Ultimately this team will go as far as Jalen Green can take them and I have the utmost confidence that we have the right face of the franchise to get it done and like you said we are in a BEAUTIFUL place financially and can pick from the litter of free agents over the next few seasons. Things are looking up and hopefully this place can combine all the big brains that support this team and come up with fresh and innovative ways to plan some parades.

 

Picking Green was the right choose if the FO/Patrick step in and said we picking Green over Mobley it was the right decision. There are just somethings analytics can't get correctly in a player like if they have that dog in them to improve and work on their game or how much they care about winning.

 

I mean even if they blind guessed they had a 1/3 chance. And they clearly felt saying theyre taking Jabari was the best chance someone may go up to grab the top pick. It might have been the Rockets but also possibly some other team.

And there were rumors the Rockets did want to move up. So there may be some truth to this idea. After all the amount of misdirection Orlando made despite having the top pick would make zero sense unless they felt they could coax some sort of trade up from it

 

RUMORS-- can't trust them. Did Orlando say it or was it just rumored? We can imagine every "possible" arrangement of three picks by those three teams and any might have come true but only one would and did. I think the most likely scenario is that Orlando knew we wanted Jabari and OKC wanted Chet while Orlando really wanted Paolo. They just tried to extort us out of a valuable pick. Thankfully, we called their bluff.... or we had no idea and would just take the third of three.

 

Lol. Honestly, I hadn't listened to it, I just confirmed Jalen Green was on there. But I have since confirmed that Jalen said this, actually was a pretty good appearance by Jalen. He talked about all the aspects of his game he was going to be working on (getting stronger, catch and shoot, handles, decision making etc.)

 

The gif was because you said Ben Simmons

The podcast is Bill Simmons lol

 

I disagree with all your theories behind the Magic's actions, the Magic definitely played this wrong and looked foolish.
1. If Orlando didn't know who they wanted, why not work out all the top 3 picks? More information wouldn't hurt. Why
2. If Orlando was looking for a trade, why not cover all the bases by bringing in all the draft picks. Or why not make it public that they were looking to trade down? Then have tr4ade rumors to 3 teams who would want to draft each of the top 3 prospects. Then OKC and Hou would have to consider that their guy could be gone if they have preference. Also, they may have gotten a lot more offers, possibly one that might blow them away.
3. If no one knew OKCs plan Orlando could have just stayed tight lipped as well, HOU would still have to trade up to be sure they got someone if they had a preference, still no reason to not show interest in Paolo, and alienate your potential #1 pick. For example OKC worked out all three prospects.
4. The other 2 guys declined to workout for the Rockets, so they wined and dined Paolo. ORL gave other teams the opportunity to build a relationship with Paolo that they didn't take. You never want to let other teams set the narrative and get in your picks head without setting your own first impression. I'm sure the Rockets took the time while building their relationship to crap on the Magic for not even inviting him for a workout. "I can't believe they didn't even want to work you out, you were always on top of our board at worst top 2, we even considered trading up for you." "They must not see your true value" "You could be a star in Houston with JGreen and KPJ" This ended up with their #1 pick being disappointed about going to their team.

Didn't even see that. Not really a fan of either. I hardly even remember Ben Simmons from his old playing days.

 

Lots of good nuggets here:

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/st...ith-jr-mystery-surrounded-nba-draft-no-1-pick

. . . .

Then there was the mystery of the sportsbooks. Many of the top casinos went from lowering Banchero's odds in the few days leading up to the draft to outright making him the favorite -- overnight.

While the Magic investigated -- the team came to the conclusion social media might've played a role -- the Rockets began to react.

"When [the odds] shifted, we noted it," Stone said. "If people are willing to put their money on it, especially when you see a big swing like that, it feels like maybe somebody knows something."

The Rockets reached out to Prather, a veteran agent who has a long history with the organization. Houston hadn't met with Smith before the draft, though they'd done extensive scouting and research on him. With the growing uncertainty of what the Magic might do, Prather gave the Rockets Smith's pre-draft medical reports.

This personal data, which includes previous injury history, is often closely held by players and agents. Secrecy sometimes is used as a tactic to guide players away from certain teams. It's also often not shared if an agent is confident the client will be off the board before that team picks, as was thought to be the case in this instance. The Rockets didn't have full medicals on Holmgren, either; he had only provided them to the Magic and the Oklahoma City Thunder, who had the No. 2 pick.

With the draft fast approaching, veteran agent Bill Duffy, who represents Holmgren, told the Rockets that if he got an indication the Magic and Thunder were passing on his client, he would give Holmgren's medical reports to Houston so it could prepare.
. . . .

THE ROCKETS AND Thunder deepened their information gathering.

Hours passed. Once the Rockets were convinced Orlando was going with Banchero, Houston reached out to the Magic to make a trade offer to get up to the top pick, sources said.

The Rockets wouldn't have made an offer if they were certain Smith would slide to them, sources said, but they were concerned about having to make a decision on Holmgren without time to digest his medical information.

Teams drafting near each other routinely carry out due diligence, feeling out pick availability and values. Perhaps the Magic, the thinking went, were running a smoke screen -- an effort to force last-minute trade offers only to move back and take the player they had allegedly been leaning toward all along is a game as old as the draft itself.

In 2017, the Boston Celtics famously traded the No. 1 pick for the No. 3 pick as the Philadelphia 76ers moved up to draft Markelle Fultz. The Celtics had Jayson Tatum No. 1 on their draft board all along, so they got their player and an extra future pick.

But that Celtics-Sixers trade happened three days before the draft. Had the Magic truly wanted to trade this No. 1 pick and move back, they'd have made the decision a few days earlier, sources said.

So the Magic listened to the Rockets' offer but firmly passed. The negotiation was brief, and the Rockets got the message: A deal was highly unlikely.

"You never know what is going to come up," Weltman said. "You never know what other teams are trying to do behind you."

And when the time came, Weltman didn't wait around. Within moments of being put on the clock by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, the Magic called in their selection, well ahead of the five-minute time limit. Any last-minute offers would have been moot.

Banchero and Smith were left to their twisting emotions, their early careers likely to be tied to that moment in Brooklyn.

"Jabari ended up in a place that fits who he is," Prather said. "There was nothing but excitement on Jabari's part about going to Houston. We love their young core. We love the city. We love the passion of their fan base."

After wiping away tears upon hearing his name called first, any unease over the way it played out faded for Banchero.

"No, this isn't even a dream. I feel like this is a fantasy," Banchero said. "I dreamed of being in the NBA, but being the No. 1 overall pick, this is crazy."

 

Undoubtedly Stone was moving up to 1 to select Jabari Smith right?

 

This is all so interesting