There's no shot at winning the lottery. Rockets should be drafting potential stars on their draft board that are not projected in the top 3(Cousins,Wall,Turner or Favors). I am sure Morey has a list of potential stars and probabilities for each player. In 2006, Morey and Pritchard(moneyball) had Roy on their lists. Morey will have to trade up to get one of these potential stars in the 5-9 range. The closer we get to the 11, the easier it will be. A trading partner would only trade down, if their target is still available at 11. If the Rockets are drafting 15th, it will make it that much harder.
One thing to note. The worse record we end up with this year, compared to next year, the more consideration Yao will get for MVP. Provided we finish top 3 in the West, or something along those lines.
Now you foolios realize what half the people on this forum realized before this season even started. I laugh in the faces of all the people that said "Rockets make the playoffs Book it!! lets not develop our youth, tanking is lame!!" anyways, this is exactly what i feared the most going into the season. not good enough to make the playoffs, too good to get a good pick. such is life. i still love the rockets and I know we are setup great! but what can you do, at least we didnt go out without a fight. i cant wait to see what Morey can do with a lottery pick.
I'll admit I don't get the tanking - maybe I'm just super arrogant, but I don't want to tank and this team doesn't want to either. It's just with half of our team not playing, we kind of suck now.
Thing is, I don't think we're tanking! Everyone is injured ... RA is basically playing his only options at this point. It's a sad day when you have no choice but to lose ... ask the Nets.
Hornets have a hard schedule coming up, so I'll doubt we'll have a worst record then them. Although the Rockets and them face off in the last game of the season, it might mean something if we can lose most of our games.
Given Morey's history, we are more likely to trade our 11th pick for another Shane Battier. I do not think the Rockets are going to keep this pick and once again people will be dissapointed. Next year is probably the last chance the Rockets will have in the Yao Ming era. The Rockets have to options. Go all in or start thinking in rebuilding. I think Moery is likely to trade the pick plus other cheap, high potential players (Budinger comes to mind) for a good, experienced role player. If the Rockets keep the pick, it means they have little hope for going deep in the playoffs in 2011.
actually im just more mad at the situation we are in, and i hate it when people use the phrase "book it". not sure why it bothers me so much lol.
How about, rather than losing a bunch of games in order to pick 2 or 3 spots higher and to have a 0.4% better chance or so of getting John Wall, the Rockets instead decide to WIN their remaining games and to finish above .500? A novel concept, I know. In all honesty, the increased odds of a good veteran free agent wanting to sign with the Rockets this summer for some/all of the MLE (or especially in the context of the LLE candidates) will go up dramatically if the Rockets can finish the season with a winning record, say, 42-40. The natural presumption of any good (not superstar) free agent would be to say, "Wow, this team had a winning record without their best player all year! Man, if they add Yao AND me, that would be one hell of a team!" I also think that Morey realizes this basic fact of human nature. Statistically speaking (if you can even quantify this), the Rockets would be much better served to finish strong, get the 13th or 14th pick, and be in a better position to add a veteran free agent this summer, ESPECIALLY if they end up losing Scola and/or Lowry to ludicrous offer sheets.
\ You would think so, but that's not how it turned out in the 2009 off season. Rockets ended up signing only Ariza for the MLE for losing T-Mac half the season and having a winning record. I rather the Rockets go up 2-3 spots and try and trade up to get our Brandon Roy, instead of being screwed by 2 meaningless wins again.
Well, on the bright side, we'll have more chance of landing Wall compared to making the playoffs. Stress less, in Morey we trust.
Seriously??? The 2009 free agent class was not as deep, and almost every NBA expert had Trevor Ariza among the top 10 unrestricted free agents last summer. Also, since Yao's injury was known in advance of free agency (Ariza was actually signed with the Disabled Player Exception from Yao's injury), Morey expressly did NOT want to add any aging veterans, since he knew that 2009-10 would be a developmental year. Now, with Yao coming back, Kevin Martin in the fold, and Brooks having developed into an above average PG, now is the time to be more willing to add veterans. Pointing to the Rockets' 2009 free agent adventures is a bad way to prove your point, IMO.
I'll go ahead and quote Simmons, "nobody ever said the words, 'Uh-oh, T-Mac is gone, the Rockets are screwed now.'" (yeah, it's Simmons, but still.) Besides, would we really be that much better signing off Ben Gordon or Artest? Besides, I'm pretty sure Ariza picked us over the Cavaliers and Lakers is because he wanted to go to a good team where we have a bigger role, which we were, and it's that kind of thing which we should aim for by trying to win as much as possible instead of trying gain a spot. And if you're going to say Roy, everyone knows the difference between 13 and 15 is way more than 6 and 8. I don't think we should tank and continue to win as many games as possible. Admittedly, it might as well be the same thing at this point with half our roster gone, but I think finishing a season with good vibes and a strong feeling of accomplishment is more important compared to getting the 13th as opposed to 14th pick. And Bima gets rep, because he is awesome.
Guys, we don't even need to tank. At this point of the season, with all our injuries and fatigue finally creeping in, our best is not good enough to win. At least we know that losing will improve our chances in the draft so there's an upside to our current woes. Urgent need is for a big (as in 7footer) who can defend and rebound, and yes, a PG who is big enough to defend the elite PGs of the league. I'm excited at the draft.
Doesn't Morey need the MLE to resign Lowry and Scola, so it would leave him with nothing for other free agents?
