Looking back at our draft history going back to 2000 we have not struck gold on any of those picks. Yao was the exception of guys that lived up to the hype because we did have a lot of success while he was here. Joel Przybilla Eduardo Najera Richard Jefferson (Zach Randolph, Gerald Wallace, Tony Parker & Gilbert Arenas were still on the board) Jason Collins Brandon Armstron Yao Ming Bostjan Nachbar Tito Maddox Malick Badiane Luis Flores Luther Head Rudy Gay Steve Novak Aaron Brooks Carl Landry Brad Newley Nicolas Batum Joey Dorsey Marrty Leunen Jermaine Taylor Sergio Llull Chase Budinger Patrick Patterson Marcus Morris Nikola Mirotic Chandler Parsons 8 PFs, 6 SFs, 5 SGs, 4 PGs and 2 Cs over that span. I know that Daryl has drafted better than Dawson but still we are horrible when it comes to evaluating talent for our team. Yao was the only legit pick we took in all those years. If we want to get better we need to do it by trading for established players and through free agency because we won't find the help we need through the draft. Just my 2 cents. Thoughts?
We've had 3 losing seasons in almost 30 years. It's not necessarily an issue with lack of good evaluation, but lack of opportunity. A team can suck for years and get a ton of high picks, grab a few all-stars, and it wouldn't mean they evaluate talent well. Bringing up second rounders who surprised is all hindsight and not good reasoning. You can bring that up for 25-27 teams every draft.
I'm just using this as a defense of not tanking to get more draft picks. Especially when we don't have a good track record using those picks to begin with.
Everyone thought that was a great trade because Griffin most certainly had the talent. However, he wasn't mature enough for the NBA and had lots of issues off the court. And you know he died too right? http://www.nba.com/nba_news/eddie_griffin_crash.html Eddie Griffin Killed in Car Crash By CHRIS DUNCAN, AP Sports Writer Posted Aug 21 2007 9:44PM Print RSS Feeds E-News Sign Up Share on Facebook HOUSTON, Aug. 21 (AP) -- Former Minnesota Timberwolves forward Eddie Griffin died last week when his sport utility vehicle collided with a freight train in a fiery crash, the Harris County medical examiner's office said Tuesday.
For this to be relevant it really needs to take into account the draft position of every player. You expect a #1 overall pick to be a good, franchise changing player. It's not remotely fair to compare Yao and Luis Flores (chosen #56 overall) as players. Side note: Interestingly enough, while researching Luis Flores, I found that Flores was traded to Dallas for the rights to VSpan, who we all know was traded to San Antonio for Luis Scola. It goes to show that smart management of contracts can lead to good finds in the draft.
I knew he had a problem with alcohol, but could they have done a toxicology since his body was burnt so bad?
Apparently he had a blood alcohol percentage of 0.26 http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3081412
Definitely. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3081412 His outer body was burnt, for sure, which made it difficult to identify the body. The rest was preserved enough to perform an autopsy.
Chandler Parsons, Patrick Paterson, Morris notwithstanding,*not enough information: the rockets haven't drafted a great player since Robert Horry and Sam Cassell in the early 90s in the middle part of the draft, that is.
They are talking about Eddie Griffin not Blake. Blake Griffin was "honestly" won by moving up in the lottery. IIRC, Griffin should have belonged to OKC. Imagine that team with him and Durant and Westbrook and Harden et al....