More Draft Scuttlebutt

mcable i love that idea. if we could get reddick and one of either brewer or carney we'd be looking mighty strong. there's a good chance atleast one if not all of those guys pan out.

 

As long as we get Brewer, i'm down too.

I wouldn't do 8 for 12 and 15 on its own, but i'd do it along with the deal for the 10... if that makes sense, as it gets us a shot at Brewer.

 

if we're sitting pat at #8 i'll just flat out take brewer. but if we did end up with picks 10 and 12 i'd rather take reddick at 10 and hope brewer is there at 12 and if he's not pick up carney.

i don't know about reddick lasting till 12 but i'm pretty sure carney or brewer will be there.

 

rockets #8 for NO #15 + 2007 1st round pick then it's all good.

 

correct! much, much, stronger draft next year.

 

Holy Crap though!

Three rookie first-rounders in the same year, all with guaranteed contracts for the next three years?

I dunno man.. I could see them going with two (they stuck with both when they got Yao and Boki) but the last time we had three, we gave them all away for basically nothing (ack! blood-pressure rising!)..

Somehow I doubt that JVG would be on board with three guaranteed-contract rookies all on the team at the same time, considering how he has this preference for salty old vets.. me personally, I would love to see it happen, if for no other reason than the youth alone.

But we must try to keep in mind than V-Span is probably going to be here this coming season as well, so that would mean him and three first-round rookies, AND a second-rounder as well?

I just don't know how that would possibly work unless we were able to miraculously trade JHo or Swift for some future picks or something.

And if you factor in the possibility of bringing back James, then that is a six-man addition to the roster from last year? How do we slice 6 guys off the current roster?

Let's assume that Brunson, Lampe, Bowen, Frahm, maybe Bogans and Sura are gone. How much guaranteed money would something like that cost to just cut those guys, or trade them for future #2's?

Even if you forget the Seattle deal, and keep next year's #1, that's still 5 guys you have to add - unless you also assume that this year's #2 is simply not going to stick no matter what. (which would be a shame if it happens to be someone like Gansey, Novak, Brown, or Gibson or Pitz, or even Fernandez.)

Now in that case, if Seattle is really more interested in cash than improving right now, then it may be even more ideal to consider sending them cash and this year's #2 for their #10 this year, and we keep #8 and #10. That way we're only adding 3 or 4 new guys (depending on what happens with James and V-Span). This would allow Seattle to still add a pretty good player without having to pony up guaranteed slotted money for three years.

Would Seattle go for that, instead of a #1 next year, since that pick would still mean paying guaranteed money? I know people would say we would be reaming Seattle in this deal (and I would agree ), but once you make it clear you are willing to give up on improving in order to grab some cash, then we can't just automatically say 'Seattle would never go for that!', can we?

Out curiosity, how does a 'cash and picks' trade like that affect the salary cap? Is any 'cash consideration' considered to be part of the cap?

 

Why are the Rockets looking to draft a PF/C?

 

That depends on whether you are listening to CD or JVG. Hearing from JVG, it sounds like he was unimpressed about a couple of facets of VSpan's game.

 

Because we need depth at those positions. A player like Cedric Simmons gives us a taller, stronger, smarter, more motivated PF than Swift without losing the "athleticism." A player like Simmons also can slide over to play center to give Yao a rest because, much as we admire Deke, he may no longer be the answer at backup center.

This also allows us to trade a big (Swift or Howard) for a small (an up and coming SG/SF like J.R. Smith (Hornets); Antoine Wright (Nets); Carlos Delfino (Pistons), etc.

 

Rookie contracts are only guaranteed for the first 2 years now, with 2 team options following.

 

Would you guys do something like this:

Houston Trade Breakdown
Outgoing

#8 Pick

Ryan Bowen
6-9 SF from Iowa
1.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.4 apg in 9.7 minutes

Juwan Howard
6-9 PF from Michigan
11.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.4 apg in 31.7 minutes

Luther Head
6-3 PG from Illinois
8.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.7 apg in 28.9 minutes

Incoming

#15 Pick

J.R. Smith
6-6 SG from St. Benedict's Prep (HS)
7.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.1 apg in 18.0 minutes

P.J. Brown
6-11 PF from Louisiana Tech
9.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.2 apg in 31.8 minutes
Change in team outlook: -5.2 ppg, -2.0 rpg, and -2.2 apg.

Successful Scenario
Due to Houston and New Orleans being over the cap, the 25% trade rule is invoked. Houston and New Orleans had to be no more than 125% plus $100,000 of the salary given out for the trade to be accepted, which did happen here. This trade satisfies the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

 

Latest Draft Rumor

New Orleans sends Houston 12 and 15 for 8. That way Rockets can get Carney, Redick, or Brewer and a powerforward or point guard. The Rockets can get creative and get some nice talent if they do it right. Could we use 15 on Alex Johnson?

 

Absolutely not.

Maybe with the #12 pick. And certainly not until draft day when the Rockets management can see who falls to us.

 

YES!!

 

Is that right? I thought it was 3 guaranteed and 1 option.

If you are right then taking a chance with your first round pick suddenly looks a lot better.

 

Has anyone researched Alex Johnson? His own coach called him an underachiever and did not start until his junior season which he put out a blistering 13 and 7 and declared for the draft. He is listed as having a "low" motor and needs to be pushed. Why all the facination and posts about this guy?

 

I was wondering too, I knew it went down, but I thought I had seen that it went down from 4 to 3 years.. Hmm..

 

I think it would be a tough decision. I would certainly do it for the #12.

PJ is an expiring contract, so we would be ridding ourselves of Juwan's awful contract. PJ has asked to be traded to a contender and can still play.

They are looking to get rid of JR. I think he would be an upgrade over Luther. He has mounds of potential. He could still be a top 2-guard in the league before all is said and done. With that said, he could still be a bust.

It would be nice to move Bowen some how so JVG won't be tempted to play him.

For all this, we move 7 slots to #15 where we may be able to take Carney or Brewer to really solidify the 2/backup 3 position.

We could get Mike James with the MLE and end up with:

James / Rafer
JR Smith / Rodney Carney
T-Mac / Carney
PJ Brown / Stro / James Augustine? (32 pick)
Yao / Mutombo / Augustine

 

Why not? Rockets would do virtually ANY trade that can dump JHo's contract, let alone getting J. R. Smith despite losing Head.