Trade the pick. whoever we draft will be useless in year 1 anyways. the only way I’m drafting with the pick is if it lands in the top 4 and if there’s a rim running lob threat available with whatever pick we get.
Your decision on whether we should use a potentially high pick in an incredibly loaded draft is based entirely on your projection of how that player will impact the team day 1? Man, some of y'all have truly limited viewpoints.
Big, strong point that can shoot ..... Probably goes 5ish. The Rockets pick will either be top 4 or 12-13-14 as it stands currently. If the pick lands top 4 are you taking Jakucionis ahead of any of Flagg, Bailey, Harper or Edgecombe? Probably not. A similar player to target later in the draft is Sergio de Larrea. He's 6'6" and probably a better shooter, 50/45/77 - .630 TS% in the top pro league in Spain.
it's a super deep draft so i'm excited no matter what happens. I think we potentially have the ammo to trade up if we do land at 11/12.. Something to consider if we really like one of the prospects outside the top 4.
You know, that's a really interesting point I hadn't considered. Everyone is discussing trading towards a player, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of trading up depending on the cost. We'd have the ammo to do it, and trading up, historically, generally works out well for the team trading up.
Could they trade up, Yes, I think so ..... But, it's not like the Rockets have a high number of picks like OKC or Utah. They have 7 picks over the next 7 years. What they do have is a couple picks that are unprotected and appear to have a good chance to be early lottery - The Brooklyn 27 swap, the two best of Houston, PHX & Dallas in 2029 and of course the PHX swap in the coming draft. No first round pick in 2026. That means 4 picks and 3 swaps to use in trade. Using any of those picks to move up could jeopardize the ability to trade for an established player should the opportunity present itself. Making such a trade now could hamstring your ability to make an all in move in the future - unless of course you are using current players instead of draft assets to make that move up.
The Rockets have a coach that has no interest in developing the young players they already have, there would be no point in drafting more guys to not develop.
One problem to consider is how long to hold on to assets with the hope of making a big splash. Are we willing to wait another year for the hope that Giannis or Ant become available? I'm of the mind that guys like Booker, Young, Zion aren't worth it. It might be time to say we have our stars in Amen, Jalen, and Sengun and start to use our assets for fit around them instead of a lesser star like Booker. If we get in the top 4 of this draft, we should definitely use it for a rookie and then consider using the rest of the assets to add 3&D players that can contribute immediately. This approach assumes Giannis or Ant is content to run it back with their team. If it's not in the top 4 we should consider trading it for a rotation piece or for a good pick in 26 or maybe both.
Trading up say from the 9th pick to the 3rd could be considered somewhat of an all in move. While potentially (if the player ended up being good) extend the window of contention much longer but to some extent delaying it.
Oh he's fine developing young players like Amen, Sengun, Jalen, Jabari, Tari. To whom, might you be referencing?
It is 8 picks in 7 years. If they trade up using a FRP, they would be at 7 picks in 7 years as they would get a 2032 FRP after the draft to replace the 2025 Pho pick. It would be very unwise to use more than that to trade up unless getting Flagg. I do think it is much more likely that the Rockets trade the 2025 Pho FRP for a future FRP such that the Rockets will have 10 FRPs in 7 years leading up to the 2027 draft assuming no big trades.
If the pick lands in the top 4, I'm taking BPA and not thinking twice. Figure it out later. I just think it will cost an arm and a leg to trade into the top 4, whereas trading up to 5 - 7 may be more feasible if we land at, say, ten or eleven.
That poster is only interested in his predictions about players coming true. If to whatever extent he is inaccurate he looks to blame someone else and/or twist words and facts to make it seem that he wasn’t wrong after all. (See: Perhaps one day Jalen Green can get to Corey Brewer’s level) This particular post is about Reed Sheppard. His panties are in a twist that he hasn’t played well. So he’s lashing out at Udoka with blame.
I think that is the most likely outcome as well, but it's just according to how they rate the players this year compared to next year and where the PHX pick lands. Flagg may not even come out if a team he doesn't want to go to has the first pick. If you get a 26 frp is it unprotected and from whom? Lots of things to consider. Just because Reed has been a flop, doesn't mean this next crop will all be useless their first year. Especially, if they can shoot at the NBA level. It is most likely that the Phx pick will fall around 10-12. What will teams be willing to give up for it? This off-season is when Stone really needs to earn his chops.
This will not be popular on here, but IMO there is only 1 player we are interested in using a lottery pick on in this draft: Cooper Flagg. And I think we’d be all in to trade up for him and create an Amen/Flagg core. Like all in. Right after the draft lottery Stone is calling whoever has the #1 pick and offering the 2025 PHX lottery pick + Sengun + Whitmore/Sheppard + 27 & 29 PHX picks. That’s what a “consolidation trade” looks like. Trading a bunch of very good assets for a single better one that perfectly fits with your one blue chip guy. If that deal isn’t accepted, I think we 100% trade out for a future pick or two.
If we landed in the top 4 I'd definitely keep the pick. This is a nice draft class. Flagg is a no-brainer of course, but Ace Bailey would also be a great fit. 6'10" guy with athleticism, guard skills, and plus shooting. Would make us a really huge, athletic team if he ended up as the long-term starter at the 3 (with Amen at PG). Perfect complement to Amen, Alpi, Jalen. I don't like Edgecombe or Harper quite as much personally but they're still very good prospects who would have both gone #1 in last year's draft IMO. Outside the top 4, I don't know. There are some guys who might be nice fits later in the lottery. I would be fine either way I guess, wouldn't lose any sleep over trading the pick but wouldn't mind keeping it.
while it’s clear Flagg is a special talent, he’s not a shooter. Maybe he’ll develop into one, but I don’t see the Amen-Flagg pairing as ideal. Of course both players are worth building around and it would be amazing defensively, but seems like we’d be doubling down on the same issues we already have with a lack of shooting. Regardless, I’d be willing to go all in on Flagg no doubt. I just don’t think any team that has the #1 pick will trade it this yr. Agreed that we should be trying to trade the Suns pick since it will likely not be top half of the lotto and the draft really falls off after the top 5.
Bailey does a lot of the same things that Flagg does--he's not as good, especially on defense, but he fits into roughly the same profile. I would love to pick either him or Flagg up in this draft. I don't think any team would trade us Flagg though. Bailey, I don't know. Probably not him either, but more possible.
