Keeping Up With the Rockets' "Draft Rights Held" Players

Don't we also have the draft rights to Frederic Weis, the French 7 footer who Vince Carter dunked over?

 

Diebler is interesting because of his crazy 3 point stats.

 

I wonder if the falling Euro could lead Lull or Gentile to reconsider us this summer.

Right now they could maybe earn even more here compared to Europe.

 

Papanikolau has looked very unimpressive to me. I hope Gentile has more upside than this guy.

 

Papanikolaou really was completely marginalized when the Rockets acquired Corey Brewer. Obviously he didn't get enough time to get accustomed to playing in the NBA, and I do think he has value as a rotational player, but clearly he was more of an means to an end at this point.

A$$ets.

 

I don't know what it is about my brain that triggers this, but everytime a "Rockets overseas prospects" discussion starts, I feel obliged to go see what Malick Badiane is up to lately.

 

I love the old NBAonNBC theme music on this video. Takes me back.

 

Marko Todorovic was second in PER in the Spanish League, which Llull is in (Not a big fan of PER, but it is okay for a rough estimate of offensive and rebounding efficieny). Llull wasn't first. His man to man defense is okay. He can help away from basket well, but isn't a rim protector.

 

I think the ship may have sailed on Llul - hard to see him coming over now that he is 27, but I have no idea when his contract ends. If his contract doesn't end for a few years I can't see Morey paying out to bring over an older point guard.

Gentile, Todorovic and Diebler still hold value and I think Gentile maybe able to be brought over in a couple of years.

Leunen, Newley,Hervelle and Hamilton - Will just be a footnote in future trades

 

Yes, however he may get another chance next year with the Rockets if he isn't traded. He will have to improve a lot on his 3 point shooting in the off season in order to come back.

 

Most of these players will be appearing in trades we will do with the 76ers in the next 10 years.

 

This is a great, great thread. Good information and insight. Thanks all!

 

He was not that impressive in the world cup also, he was clearly struggling with his offense.

When Morey bought him over, his contract has more meaning to the Rockets than the player himself.

Kind of like the Terry trade, those picks are more valuable than Terry and his performance is just a cherry top.

 

Money asside, opportunity and a vision for a defined role has really always seemed to bigger sticking point for alot of these guys with the Rockets especially.

You kind of wonder if the Papanikolaou experiment will bode negatively with Llull this offseason when they try again to bring him over?

(side note: Even though I think he will be dealt on draft night or before, I hope Papanikolaou stays in the NBA and has success... I think he's a much better player than his production statistically would lead you to believe and a bigger support role would show he's definitely an NBA player).

Gentile, I believe is in the final year of his contract with Emporio. Id guess he's going to be weighing offers from Houston at whatever their offer will be vs. offers from the big boys over in Europe with real cash to spend & guaranteed opportunity.

With the gaping hole the Rockets have for a secondary scorer/facilitating guard next to Harden maybe there is enough opportunity to convince Llull to come over this year, but his contract goes until 2018 so you have a buyout situation there on top of whatever he's going to cost which will be a good chunk of the MLE which potentially hampers your ability to bring back Brewer/Smith/McDaniels. Is taking a stab at Llull really worth that?

However, I think there is definitely opportunity to use both players in trades. The Rockets a couple years ago could have definitely seen opportunity to fill in holes of needed role players by giving up a 2nd rounder for a guy like Llull. There are a ton of teams.... IF THEY ARE DOING THEIR HOMEWORK that should definitely have interest in Llull and Gentiles. The Rockets however have a situation where its going to tough to find roles for these guys much less the money in their salary cap NEXT YEAR (2016 however...).

 

We could really use Llull with Bev's status as a starter starting to come into question, but the MLE is going to KJ in the offseason.

 

The Bulls now with the Rose injury issues and the fact that they have such a great track record with Gasol & Mirotic sort of seem like a great trading partner for Llull's rights this Summer.

Kinda random trade but-

If the Rockets end up with the 14th pick, and the Bulls end up with Sacramento's pick if it ended up being 11 through 13, maybe that's a situation where the Rockets use Llull to move down in the draft a couple spots to get a better player.

Maybe they give up a 2nd rounder for him.

Who knows. But I could definitely see a team like the Bulls.... again... IF they are doing their homework really getting a solid player to their rotation with a defined need.

 

Wasn't Spanoulis like the Euroleague MVP?

 

Llull is under contract until 2018 and he signed an NBA buyout clause of 5-6 million €s. Doesn't look like will be here soon....

 

Here is my understanding of the Llull situation (Clutch or someone else, feel free to correct me):

1) He wants a defined and significant role. The impediment a few years ago (when he signed the extension) was that we had just committed significant money to Lin and he was seen as our PG of the future.

2) He has a buyout that declines significantly after this year. This was at least one of the reasons why he wasn't signed this year.

3) He will not sign for peanuts. We will need some or all of the MLE, assuming we stay above the cap.

4) He wants to win the Eurocup. I've always thought this was more of a "I'd like to do that" rather than "I have to do it".

My own speculation:

I don't think he's against coming to the NBA.....the right opportunity has not presented itself. He wants a clear shot at starting or being in the rotation, to be fairly paid, and his buyout needs to drop.....that could all happen this year.

I can't get over that Morey retweet from a few years ago "I have not seen a better point guard for James Harden than Sergio Llull." As I remember, the original tweet was by an overseas scout.

Llull to me is a 10 year younger version of Pablo. Good shooter, aggressive player, and an overall smart basketball mind.