The moment Les, Morey and Coach chose not to actually tank is the moment we should all agree that this pick is not that important. If we miss the playoffs at this point, the pick will be a #14th again, as always since the EC sucks, as usual. So, why not get rid of the obligation as many have stated. Plus, as BimaThug has shown, our big plan (now that we aren't tanking) is trades, free agency and managing salary cap room. So, as BimaThug said, 1st rounders might actually lock up that last $1m or so that we need. Wouldn't you just hate being a few million away from offering a max salary solely because we kept our 14th pick?
The point is we're pretty stocked up on young talent. We it's our veteran talent that leaves something to be desired.
I am hearing more and more that outside of 3-4 players this draft is not as good as once expected. A number of players have disapointed and/or have slipped in the draft. Further, some of the players eligible may not come out. The scouts have soured on the Baylor kids, the North Carolina kids are not viewed the way they were 14-15 months ago. We may be in a position where the Rockets are not losing out as much as we thought. I wouldn't be stunned if one of .... Barnes, Lamb, Miller, Meyer or Jones slips to our Knicks pick.
Yeah. We need to be consolidating assets we have so we can get guys on the floor, especially when the time for Llull and Motiejunas to come over rolls around. We don't need more intriguing-but-not-surefire youngs. Let's face it there is no way we were ever going to tank hard enough for a top 3 pick... not with how terrible some teams are. And anything outside a top 3 pick is just another interesting young guy who would struggle to find PT in the rotation.
Morey turns second rounders into first rounders. We'll never get the 3rd pick or 2nd pick overall, so just have to buy more second round picks.
Agree HP, and its also worth nothing that if the Rockets are going the trade route, then the value of existing players like Lowry/Lee/Parsons/Patterson etc. dramatically increase with a playoff run.
I've been telling people the depth in this draft was overrated since the beginning of the year. It's funny people are starting to say it now, whereas before I was always met with confrontations. This writer is an idiot. Not only is he mistaken about the draft, he doesn't fully realize the implications of getting rid of the pick. WE NEED TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR IN ORDER TO KEEP OUR FUTURE PICKS IN HOUSTON. IF WE MISS THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR WE STILL OWE NJ OUR PICK NEXT YEAR WHICH WILL ULTIMATELY SHACKLE MOREY FROM MAKING MOVES IF/WHEN HE NEEDS A 1ST. Is that so freaking hard for people to understand?
One thing to keep in mind is that the Rockets have way too many players already. The Knicks will be giving us their pick short of a bizzare twist of fate, most likely either just outside the lottery. In which case, we will have the following players next season. Guaranteed Contracts Scola KMart Patterson Lowry Morris Parsons Motiejunas(he'll come over) Budinger NY #1 pick Likely Contracts Llul or Dragic(either player will fill the backup PG spot) Dalembert and/or Lee and/or someone to obtain with massive amount of capspace 2nd Round pick That's potentially 11-13 players right there. Even if we let Lee and Dalembert go via trade or FA, and make some sort of 3-for-1 trade at the deadline, that's still a good 9 deep even before we factor in Morey's penchant for finding guys out of nowhere. For the Rockets, a mid-first rounder has less value than most teams IF they keep it. It's annoying to not be able to use it in a trade, but overall this roster has a wealth of rotation players. We are lacking in the star department, not depth.
exactly! We need another mid to late first round guaranteed contract like we need a hole in our head... better to lose our pick this year and trade away the Knicks pick...
I agree. Since the lowest we would be is about 13th or 14th, might as well go for it all, lose the pick this year and make the pick bad NJ as well.
