Yeah you could get away with it, with certain players before, but now they come out so early....they're too raw.
"Y u no draft point guard, Maury?!" Some of you are seriously shortsighted. Like anyone we drafted at 18 or 32 was going to solve all of our PG issues. Maybe we'll chase Lowry, Lawson, Llull or any combination of the three. Last year we had no PFs (save us Bosh!) and now we have too many. Funny how things work out. Anyway, I give the Dekker pick a B. He's the Patrick Patterson of small forwards. Versatility is not sexy, but we need depth and he'll probably provide it. No star potential and little bust potential. Hooray for playing it safe. The Harrell pick is hard to get excited about. I'm sure he'll play hard and become a fan favorite, but I hope he's more than just an energy guy. If he truly does become a Faried level player I'll happily eat my words.
I don't expect anything from drafted rockets players since they won't see minutes. But I was sort of expecting a draft day trade. Didn't happen, so a little sad. We'll see what mauri can get for our guys.
Exactly. I bet Morey lands a surprise in FA that will have everyone very excited - he's a wizard, so anything can happen. Morey knows the time is now so it's gonna be interesting.
Get on the phone and ask what Orlando wants for Tyler Harvey... get him for a future 2nd or cash and this draft looks like an A+. For now it's a B, that Dekker kid fits really well.
You're misinterpreting the criticism. Nobody's looking for a rookie pg to come in, become a starter & dominate his first year. All we needed was a decent guard with ball handling skills, can occasionally score & create for others. What we did is skip our position of need and draft a player who probably won't play much Josh Smith/Dmo/T Jones/Decker We CLEARLY have a over abundance of PF's. We are NOT getting Love or LMA. As of now, our pg situation will be our downfall. Not drafting a pg was beyond stubborn. Over paying for Llull, when he hasn't done anything is ridiculous. Morey at times skips over the simple move and swing for the fences. Problem is he often strikes out
When you get a guy that was projected to go at 16 at pick 18 and a guy that was 17th overall prospect at 32, that's a solid draft. CBS killed us on the first pick but gave us an A+ on Harrell.
Excellent take. Very close to my own, but I am less optimistic than you. When I saw Dekker in college, I saw a very good college BB player. But some of the things that made him successful in college do not translate into the NBA. In particular, Dekker's spin moves to the basket. When the balls is in his hands, he just does not seem to have the court awareness of knowing when to pass or when to stop and pop. IMO Dekker's ceiling is a backup, rotation player, which is a reasonable outcome for a pick this low in the first round. But I expect more from Morey. I am trying very hard to see the money ball angle to this pick. I just do not. Morey must be seeing things I do not. We will see.
If Morey, with his army of numbers crunchers and scouts, doesn't see things you and I do not and cannot then he should be fired. And I do not think Morey should be fired.
I also don't trust a rookie PG drafted 18 to bring ball handling, and occasional scoring and creating for others. This is a contender. You don't put green kids at the point on a contender. Even if he can dribble and shoot, he'll still blow defensive rotations and turn the ball over in pressure situations. Drafting for need on a contender with a pick in the back half of the round is flat ridiculous. Maybe you're tempted when you have a top-3 pick with 1 or 2 cornerstones already in place, but not at 18. I'll be very disappointed to see any rookie in our rotation next year, excepting Llull who has years of Euro experience already. If I were to downgrade this draft it'd be because we didn't trade the #18 for a veteran. But, there's still time to do that.
Did we get James Blackmon Jr? No! So it is a -F at best. But srsly with how the draft played out I am ok with these picks. I think they were solid. Hope we can sign George Lucas to summer league team.
