I was watching some game footage of Aaron Brooks - I'm getting really excited. The kid has an uncanny resemblance to Nate "Tiny" Archibald!!!! I feel confident that the kid stands a very real chance of putting together a hall of fame career.
I brought up Paul and Felton just because of the size critique--that you can't be in a NBA PG at under 6 foot. Brooks isn't the the passer or floor general of Paul or Ford for sure. His size and quickness may compare, I would end it there. If you are going to bring up an older fella, Michael Adams was the guy to me who came to mind based on Brooks game. Not Calvin, Damon, Tiny, Isiah, etc. I think Earl Boykins, Tony Parker, Troy Hudson, Ty Lue, Chucky Atkins, Mo Williams are others you could bring up by their style of play--none of these guys are more than 6'1 w/o shoes and none are high assist, set up your teammates 1st, kind of guys, but all found a place in the NBA. Of these I would say only Parker is a remote longshot that Brooks could be regarded with--nontheless I could see their games as similar. Another guy you might think of is Eddie House. But House is truly an SG in a small PGS body (whereas Head is an SG in a regular sized PGs body). Brooks is more athletic than House, and like the rest of the guys above handles the ball well enough for the PG position. He is an undersized scoring PG but not an undersized SG.
Awsome!!! I see everyone is starting to like the pick a lot more. I like the pick because I've seen him play before, and he did carry that Oregon Ducks team on his 5'11" back. He is definately clutch. Hence Clutchfans ehh Clutchcity may once again hold the title appropriately. Brooks is better than Lucas and V-Span right now!!! And I don't think it will take long for him to be better than Mike James and Rafer Alston. He already has a lot of confidence. For those of ya'll that were concerned about too many point guards!! I'd rather have NBA star talented players, instead of just able bodies with the dreaded word potential. By the way if V-Span is worried about the competition in the NBA for playing time, he doesn't deserve to play basketball. Regarding Brooks, even though he is shorter than average, he moves his feet well. He will be a pest of a defender. He will get steal, and he will go full steam on fast breaks. Jet fast motor, tremendous finisher, and the way he is improving his jump shot and 3 pointers "a soon great NBA shooter" I like the Pick
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DPbKaJ2wpi0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DPbKaJ2wpi0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> forgive me if that has been posted, but it's funny and awesome
The maximum amount of cash that can be traded in a single trade is capped at 3 million. So I'm pretty sure alot of teams would have offered 3 million for that pick.
Good point. I wouldn't be surprised if San Antonio offered to buy that pick also. If PHoenix was selling best SG in the draft for cash, would they send him San Antonio or Houston? Of course not, they would send him to lottery team, like Portland. If Houston was selling the best SG in the draft for cash, would we send it to Portland, Dallas or San Antonio? No, we would sell it a lottery team. Morey: Hey, Steve, can we give you $3mil for the best SG in the draft? Kerr: Sorry, Morey, but I can't do you any favors. It's all about the rings. The fans would rake me over the coals for doing that.
It's just like when Portland traded Zach Randolph to New York, when there were better offers from Denver, Dallas, Seattle, and San Antonio. They didn't want Randolph to play in the West and definitely not in the NW division with Seattle.
ESPN had this to say about the Rocket's draft: Houston Rockets: Grade: D+ Round 1: Aaron Brooks (26) Round 2: Carl Landry (31), Brad Newley (54) Analysis: New Houston GM Daryl Morey might be the resident Rocket scientist, but I don't get this draft. Brooks is an undersized point guard who's really more of a 2-guard in the Earl Boykins mode. Landry is tough and physical, which fits a need in Houston, but I don't think he's as good as Glen Davis, who was available. Newley has talent, but does he really want to be a role player for the Rockets? If not, he can just stay in Australia and be a star. Morey is smart, and he might make me look very stupid in a few years for saying this, but I think the Rockets' draft was one of the worst of the night. I completely agree, except I have much harder questions to ask about Morey. I've got to look at the past two Rockets drafts in which Morey played a part and conclude the following: 1) Shane Battier didn't help us in the playoffs and now we don't have the youth, length and potential upside of Rudy Gay on our team; 2) After trading for Mike James (with his no trade clause), we didn't need Aaron Brooks (a shorter and more unproven version of Mike James); 3) Given that we didn't have a legitimate PF or SG (Snyder can't shoot and Luther can't dribble, see the court to pass or finish very well) on our team and both our Center and SF have proven very injury prone the one thing we didn't need was a short PG (who duplicates the game of Mike James). I don't understand this draft pick at all either in terms of who we needed or in terms of the "Best Player Available" theory. At 5'11" he will be posted up by every other PG in the NBA, and that will really help Yao stay out of foul trouble! 4) Look at what a complete disaster Morey is in the press and at managing interpersonal relationships like JVG and VSpan. Is this the person who will help us to attract and retain key free agents in Houston? Based upon what we have seen so far, I'm thinking NOT! 5) Lastly, look at the disaster that Morey left behind in Boston. With back to back drafts like these last two for the Rockets, I am now forced to begin to question in what direction we are headed with him at the helm.
Yep, this thing with V-SPAN sheds a new light on the JVG situation. Jeff said that he told the Rockets he wanted to come back and that they knew what he wanted. Morey said that Jeff was ambiguous or nin-committal or something, and that is why they had to start the process with someone else, who they eventually fell in love with. Now V-SPAN's agent says that Billy told the Rockets 10 times that he wanted out but Morey has repeatedly told the press that he doesn't know what Spanouilis is thinking or going to do. The evidence suggests that Morey is full of **** and everything he says should at least be taken with a grain of salt.
I've got to look at the past two Rockets drafts in which Morey played a part and conclude the following: 1) Shane Battier didn't help us in the playoffs and now we don't have the youth, length and potential upside of Rudy Gay on our team; For the 2,000,000th time...if the Rockets hadn't traded for Battier we would not have drafted Rudy Gay. JVG said it and it's been discussed to death. If they had kept the pick then the Rockets would have selected Thabo Sefolosha. 2) After trading for Mike James (with his no trade clause), we didn't need Aaron Brooks (a shorter and more unproven version of Mike James); Just for for the sake of clarity, Mike James doesn't (and never did) have a "no trade" clause in his contract. Kobe Bryant is the only player in the NBA with a "no trade" clause. Mike James had a "trade kicker" in his contract, but that is a very different thing that a "no trade" clause. Brooks doesn't duplicate Mike James. Brooks was picked because he brings the trait that was at the top of the Rockets wish list...speed. Morey talked about how in today's NBA game speed is a huge advantage. Adelman made similar statements. Brooks has elite speed that neither Mike James nor anyone else on the Rockets roster can approach. 3) Given that we didn't have a legitimate PF or SG (Snyder can't shoot and Luther can't dribble, see the court to pass or finish very well) on our team and both our Center and SF have proven very injury prone the one thing we didn't need was a short PG (who duplicates the game of Mike James). I don't understand this draft pick at all either in terms of who we needed or in terms of the "Best Player Available" theory. At 5'11" he will be posted up by every other PG in the NBA, and that will really help Yao stay out of foul trouble! What we needed was speed and the ability to penetrate and create some easy shots. The Rockets feel that Brooks can provide those things. The Rockets obviously felt that the likes of McRoberts, Davis or Fazekas wasn't the long term answer at PF, so they passed on them. If you don't think there's a guy available that can help you, then it's foolish to draft a player simply out of need. That's why most sucessful teams rank their prospects in tiers based on talent and always take a player from the highest tier. 4) Look at what a complete disaster Morey is in the press and at managing interpersonal relationships like JVG and VSpan. Is this the person who will help us to attract and retain key free agents in Houston? Based upon what we have seen so far, I'm thinking NOT! If you think that the JVG situation was anything but JVG and Les, then you're seriously nieve. As far as Spanoulis, I'm not sure how that is Morey's fault. Spanoulis' problems were due to his lack of playing time which I don't believe anyone has ever blames Morey for. Once Morey took over, Spanoulis was back in Greece and didn't want to return. How exactly is Morey to blame for that? 5) Lastly, look at the disaster that Morey left behind in Boston. With back to back drafts like these last two for the Rockets, I am now forced to begin to question in what direction we are headed with him at the helm. Again, you need to get your facts straight. Morey was the Celtics vice president of operations and information. He wasn't their personel guy and he certainly wasn't their GM. He was their stats guy. Morey did have input to the Celtics draft and in fact they acquired some of the best young talent in the league in the 3 years prior to Morey coming to Houston. What's wrong with Al Jefferson, Delonte West, Tony Allen and Justin Reed in the 2004 draft? How about Gerald Green and Ryan Gomes in 2005? They came out of the 2003 draft with Marcus Banks and Kendrick Perkins. The Rockets should be so unlucky to come up with that kind of talent in the next 3 drafts. Delonte West was a Morey pick. Everyone said that they reached on him (sound familiar?). Instead he turned out to be a solid all around player. Also, Morey didn't run last year's draft CD was still in charge.
You think it is perfect that Morey is lying to the fans? I have no problem with him playing things close to the vest, but just don't say anything in that case. He doesn't need to spout some bull**** to try to make the organization look better at the expense of employees or former employees. That is bush league.
http://www.sbrforum.com/Headlines/NBA/47272.aspx Hmm... it seems Rudy Fernandez may be staying in Europe for multiple years. I think Barcelona's offer to him will be bigger than the rookie scale salary for the 24th pick. So, economically for the next few years it actually make sense for him to stay in Spain. Also, I believe 3 years after the draft, a team can play a player more than the rookie scale, so perhaps Rudy's best plan is to cash out in Barcelona for 3 years, then come and sign an MLE-ish contract with Portland?
I dug this up and was amusing myself with all the Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry comments, especially early in the thread. I guess that's why we are called fans, and not the ones involved with NBA personnel decisions. Anybody want to quote their own negative comments with the reply "I gotta eat some crow"?
Thank you v3.0. HAHAHAHAHAHA at everyone who posted in pages 1-6, and BSPN for giving the Rockets draft a D+ I love not being wrong.
