Lock if already posted. Houston Rockets Shane Battier (trade) Steve Novak (#32) Lior Eliyahu (#44) The Shane Battier trade was basically awful. Rudy Gay could have been a fantastic addition to McGrady and Ming, but instead, they settle for a player who will be a roleplayer rather than someone with the potential to be a star. The trade is not yet official, but is speculated to have Stromile Swift and Rudy Gay (#8) moving to the Grizzlies for Battier. Their second rounders were also unimpressive with the one-trick pony Novak being selected and Eliyahu, the second-best Israeli project in the draft, being selected ahead of Yotam Halperin, the best Israeli project in the draft. Grade: F New York Knicks Renaldo Balkman (#20) Mardy Collins (#29) After the Balkman pick, I’m surprised that there was not a violent riot at Madison Square Gardens. I always tend to give Isiah Thomas the benefit of the doubt when it comes to drafting, but this time it looks like he reached about a round higher than Balkman was projected, even though Phoenix was reportedly interested in him as well. Thomas must see something in him and we’ll have to wait until the summer leagues to see what that is. Collins is a solid pick at 29, but not for the Knicks, who already have more combo guards than they know what to do with. Grade: F+ http://www.realgm.com/src_twoplusthefoul/120/20060629/report_cards_from_the_2006_draft/
thats kinda splittin hairs there, its not like they gave the knicks an a or anything. neither team had a good draft. The rockets say they want to get younger and more athletic yet they trade away one of the best athletes in the draft along with one of the only athletic players on our roster
I'm not familiar with Eliyahu, but I think the Rockets made some good decisions with the cards they were dealt. Swift is dead weight and a huge waste of money, so we're fortunate to have found a way out of that commitment. Furthermore, Rudy Gay lacks the discipline and consistency to play for Van Gundy. Battier is an ideal candidate to be coached by Van Gundy, he can dominate on both sides of the court when he needs to, and he has no problem with being a part of the supporting cast when guys like T-Mac or Yao are on their game... I was hoping they would use the 2nd round pick on Novak all along. He will provide instant offense off the bench, which will be great when Yao or T-Mac are double/triple-teamed. Actions speak louder than words. Isiah Thomas, who was a great player, has done absolutely nothing to even suggest that me that he's not terrible as a coach or any other adminstrative position in the NBA. So, in light of the aforementioned FACTS, I disagree wholeheartedly with you in saying that the Knicks fared better than the Rockets yesterday... Provided that everyone stays healthy, the Rockets will be a force to reckon with next season! I give the Rockets a B+ thus far this offseason.
I could not possibly agree with you any more. Appearantly though, we are one of like 6 people who like this deal.
It isn't that Battier is horrible, or that we should have necessarily kept Gay and Slowmile. The reason people are so pissed is that most of us believe that the Rockets could have gotten a lot more for those two assets than an above-average role-player. They should have been able to at least get another pick along with a player - something like Hedo Turkoglu and the rights to JJ Redick. I think the Rox will do very well next year with a healthy Yao and TMac, but the #8 pick had potential that will now never be realized, at least by the Rockets.
A B+! If they landed Brandon Roy and traded the 32 up for Marcus Williams I would give them a B+. But as it stands I have to give you an F on grading NBA drafts. If it's any consolation you get an A for being a homer which is all good in my books.
The Rockets will suck again next year, get used to it. This time it will be with a healthy Yao and Tmac. This is in all likelyhood JVG's last year. For some reason he doesn't think he needs quality depth. Bowen, Bogans, and Hayes will not save his hide next season. Our projected starters: Allston TMac Battier J.Howard Yao The western conference is shaking in their boots.................................
Here is the thing that gets me - Gay lacks discipline and consistency. So do most collegiate athletes. Thats the story of the draft. Part of being a coach is instilling those things in young players. If Van Gundy can only coach vets and players who already have work ethic/high basketball IQ, what does that say about him as a coach? I love Van Gundy for his straight forward manner, but it's becoming more obvious to me that VG isn't the man for this job. It's not to say he's a bad coach, but he isn't the coach for this team. The Rockets need to be more dynamic. I'll agree with you that Battier is a decent player but to say he can dominate both sides of the ball when he wants is taking it a bit far....
You really want to scare the West, tell them our bench is Sura, Dikembe, Luther Head and Chuck Frakin Hayes!
What makes you think we could have gotten more? We know that CD spoke to everybody out there. Do you think he chose anything other than the best offer. You can argue that we should not have made the trade, but I don't see any basis for assuming there was a better offer out there.
my sentiments exactly about JVG. a part of being an NBA head coach is actual COACHING! a coaches JOB is being able to instill discipline and consistency in rookies and young players, it's called player development. it is just as important as X's and O's. we can't continue to trade away young talent for proven veterans because there goes the future of the organization and any type of trade value amongst the current roster. i'm so worried about the future of the organization with the people running the show right now. Dawson, Morrey and JVG have shown me enough. they don't want to take the time or effort to turn young talents into good players. they want old, breaking down veterans as stop gaps in hopes that they can compliment yao and tracy. it hasn't worked so far, why is it going to work this year? i've had enough with JVG and CD. they have NO CLUE how to run an organization for the present or the future.
The fact that the trade was made before we even picked, contingent on Gay being there makes me think that. Where teams may not have been that interested in our dangling the #8 pick out there, there may have been more interest after the draft if we said "Who would you give us for Rudy Gay and anyone on our roster not named TMac or Yao?" When a guy is being considered for the #1 overall pick, I find it hard to believe that the most he will net you is Shane Battier.
I guess the point would be - if you aren't offered value for your player you don't make a trade just to make a trade. If we just kept him thru Feb and he's scoring 20 pts/gm there would be plenty of offers better than a backup sf.
The words "Van Gundy" and "dynamic" have never been used in the same sentence before. And I think your post captures what I feel is JVG's true weakness- adaptability. The one thing is, I wonder if we can run pick and rolls through Battier/McGrady and thus prevent Yao from having to waste energy setting picks all the time and then going back to the post.
The thing is I wouldn't be surprised if we were all for this trade and possibly could have proposed it. It almost seems like we were kind of targeting Battier. So even if a better offer in other people's eyes came by, we were already going to trade Gay(if he fell) for Battier.
Forgive me if I can't see how it's worse than Sura-Wesley-McGrady-Padgett-Yao, because that is what we started as a 52-game winner and a #5 seed. If If we can upgrade either the one or the four in free agency and keep Head, this top-7 will be immensely better than the above plus James and Bowen. Some people are crying so much about the draft that they can't see past the injuries of last year or the fact that most teams rely on role players around stars.
How about fishing for a better offer? We traded the guy before his name was even announced. CD should have had the balls to demand the #24 be thrown in, at the very least. Instead, we're the one throwing in the extra piece. You'd think we were the ones trading up. And I think Jerry West popping open champagne bottles with all his buddies in the war room kind of tells you how lopsided the trade is. It's his second happiest day as a GM, the first being the day he built the Shaq/Kobe dynasty. You think CD was that happy?
Well yes, if you are the one who's so desperate to make the deal before the pick, you won't likely to get value. To get anyone who's of value, you have to ship out at least $5m contract, which is Stro. However, from the reaction of West and the whole Griz organization, if they were a little more patient, it's not that fat fatched that he could at least get some picks out them for this deal.
I don't think J.Howard is good enough to be in Rockets' lineup. Howard+Hayes+Novak is one of the worst combination for playing 4. Rocketes need a solid, tough PF absolutely.
They won 52 games with a healthy TMac having an MVP year and an overachieving group of role players. Howard played during much of that season and he played well...now he's two years older and ineffective. Deke was one of the best backup big man in the league 2 years ago. Last year he looked slow and uninspired. Our guards shot lights out two years ago and played better than they really were. Even JVG said that the Rockets team that year had a bunch of old guy who had career years.
