you can't operate as if there is an impending trade with the raps. there isn't. you have to do what's best for your team as is. plus, you don't use the draft to balance your roster. you fill needs through free agency and trading. the draft is for upgrading the talent on your team. if you don't take the best player available regardless of position its a loss. you never hurt yourself by taking the most talented player. remember when brooks was drafted, the rockets had 3 pg's on the roster and only 1 pf. maybe you would've wanted to draft glen davis or josh mcroberts to fill the need at pf, but drafting the best player left seems to have worked out pretty well. i think morey will stick to what has been working.
You are making my point. The bpa at 14 is most likely gonna be a SF, and they may still be the bpa at 22.
No offense Jopa, but what makes you fully "convinced" that Morey is after Rubio? Do you talk to Morey or no any of his confidants.
Well that's based on how you define "Best Player Available", is best player available a player that has the best chance to contribute right of the bat? or is it the player with the most upside? or a combination of both? ... Plus there only like two SF worth considering at our position, which are Paul George and Xavier Henry(If you consider him a SF)... Gordon Hayward is to much of a reach IMO for the 14th pick --RB
I'd hardly call his post "off-the-wall". While some may not agree with it, at least his reasoning is well thought out. I understand the logic and somewhat agree about Brooks not necessarily being the long-term solution at the PG position for the Rockets. I also think that Rubio could be a special player and is likely held in higher esteem by Morey than Brooks is. I just don't think that David Kahn is willing to give Rubio's rights up for anything that Morey would be willing to give up in exchange. Basically, don't knock a guy for making a well-reasoned argument just because you disagree with him. Just state your opposing viewpoint and leave it at that.
How was any of that well-reasoned? Throwing out the cliche "making his teammates better" multiple times is not going to contribute positively to a 'well-reasoned' post. Calling Brooks a 'complementary piece' who would be great NEXT to Rubio, someone who hasn't played a minute of NBA basketball is 'well-reasoned'? Seriously? Brooks is going to make the offense 'stagnate'? That's ridiculous. Wanting to turn over a team hoping to contend for an NBA title to a Euro who's never played in the league in favor of a proven guy who's trending toward all-star status - sorry, but I won't be calling that well-reasoned any time soon.
Henry is a shooting guard and George is below Wes Johnson, Luke Babbitt, and Gordon Hayward in small forward pecking order of this draft.
1. Rubio's game speaks for itself. He dominated the Euros as a 16 year old. Now he is championing them. Another year in Europe and he will have nothing left to prove. 2. When Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant complement your game while they are playing alongside the best in the world, it speaks volumes. 3. Morey has hinted that he was after one of the top point guard prospects last year. Somehow I don't think he was after Johnny Flynn. 4. I said last draft that Rubio and Curry were the two best point guards in the draft and I would trade Brooks in an instant for either one of them. I even went out on a limb and predicted Curry would be rookie of the year while a lot of this board was laughing up their sleeve about that. I said he was better than Brooks and a lot more laughed it off. I wanted Curry the year before he came out. While he wasn't rookie of the year, I believe he came in second and the only reason he didn't win it is because Don Nelson doesn't play games and didn't pump up his shots to get him the honor. Curry is way more efficient than Tyreke and I'd trade Tyreke or Brooks for him in a heartbeat. Rubio is better than Curry. Keep laughing. I get the last laugh most of the time. So it doesn't bother me when rook posters pop off. I'm an old man. I've played the game and I've watched more basketball than most of this board put together. There are posters here whom I respect (DaDa for his knowledge, passion and energy) (Durvasa for his great analytics) (Bima for his point counterpoint approach) (Clutch for his inside contact and overall bball iq) (others that I fail to remember at present) but there are no posters here that I feel inferior to in basketball knowledge and NBA knowledge. And I can spot a rank amateur basketballer a mile away. Just because you threw on a jock and you dunked a ball and you slopped around in a zone in high school and you watch bball on TNT and ESPN while drinking beers with the frat boys doesn't a basketball student make you. Post on. : )
Thats your opinion.... Henry measured at 6'7 with a 6'11wingspan, a solid frame, and above average athleticism making him more than capable of playing SF position and Paul George according to Chad Ford has been killing it against other "lottery picks" at team practices which would explain his stock sky rocketing on some mock drafts... --RB
That kind of backfired on him last year. If i recall we needed to draft a back-up big last season( could have gotten Dejuan Blair ) and ended up with David Anderson.
Blair is a PF anyway, hes not nearly big or skilled enough to be defend centres in the league. Plus, we got Budinger, JT and Lllul.
I know more or less about Morey's basketball philosophy, but I had no idea he was going to draft Aaron Brooks and no idea he would trade for Kevin Martin. Predicting or being convinced of what player Morey is targeting outside of any top 10 player in the league seems next to impossible. Personally I have no clue what he's going to do in this upcoming draft or who he's going to trade for. But I can still "guess".
really hope Morey is as smart as billed. drafting a player 'cause there's a if/maybe/hopeful/prayerful chance of possibly trading him is dumb.
I knew Kevin Martin was a Morey player. Draws a ton of free throws and his PPS is crazy. a very efficient offensive player. Morey likes him but he'd trade him for a player that is offensively efficient and plays good D. upgrade upgrade upgrade I was pumping Kevin Martin months before we got him and I was pumping Kyle Lowry a year before we got him.
This is a great thread. I don't have any idea where Morey's heading in the draft, but it should be obvious that many of Morey's targets may not be in the draft. For all those who say "this is a big man's draft" they should remember Morey's comments about Dorsey and the crap shoot that drafting a big man is. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with Morey's perception here, but the guy does play percentages with his "value-added" data. Moreover, I just don't see another young guy this season in the rotation unless there's a dramatic roster overhaul. We have too many guys now that we're expecting/praying to improve. We're terribly weak inside when Yao's out and I don't think Morey thinks he can address that issue at the 14th pick of the draft. I also don't believe he can put next season on the line with a draft pick. The whole Rubio thing is bizarre, but Morey's interest is certainly common knowledge (Chron, Yahoo, ESPN) but it seems Morey thinks he's undervalued by most franchises (talented Euro-kid) and he does have a lot to offer to acquire him. Even if Rubio is not in the equation, I can easily see Brooks being gone in the right deal. But I do think draft-night is going to be a chess move with more to follow.
Blair is bigger than Chuck and he(Hayes) did an ok job at center considering the circumstances. Blair probably would have had a better chance at affecting shots than Chuck. Who knows?
