David Thorpe re-ranks 2012 draft players. <script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?playerBrandingId=4ef8000cbaf34c1687a7d9a26fe0e89e&adSetCode=91cDU6NuXTGKz3OdjOxFdAgJVtQcKJnI&pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:10037156&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true"></script> Spoiler 1. Anthony Davis (1st Pick) 2. Andre Drummond (9th Pick) 3. Damian Lillard (6th Pick) 4. Jared Sullinger (21th Pick) 5. Terrence Jones (18th Pick) Bad High Picks They Mention Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (2th) Dian Waiters (3th) Thomas Robinson (5th) Terrence Ross (8th) Austin Rivers (10th) Royce White (16th) Patrick Beverley and Brian Roberts were also mentioned as top 20 despite being undrafted. Could he be ranked in top 10 of the draft class? I guess Morey could have picked Sullinger instead of Royce White in 2012 but overall great job by him.
T Jones > Sullinger But I guess Jones just started getting consistent minutes so hard to put him ahead of Sullinger I suppose
I still would probably take Sully over Jones, but it's close. They're both amazing picks in that range of the draft. Imagine if we had taken Jones and Sully instead of Jones and White.
Sullinger has back problems at his age (Bulging disc). There's a reason a consensus top 5 pick fell that far in the draft. It's a fairly significant injury and missed couple of months end of last season because of it.
interestingly enough, Morley had his hungry eyes for 3 of those five players in the new top five list.
You are right right. He was drafted by Lakers and traded to Miami at 42nd spot in 2009 but he decided to play in European League instead. Great decision by Patrick to develop his game.
The only way that is forgivable is if the OP's first language isn't English. In which case I'll stfu because his written english is still better than my written or spoken any other language.
Different era for the Rockets, we had different goals at the time. It was about finding a diamond in the rough. Each of our picks had a really low percent of breaking out and becoming a star, but at least they had a chance. We eschewed guys like Zeller or Henson who clearly would peak as role players in this NBA. It was all about potential. Now it's about fit. We have the centerpieces, so we just build around them. Looking back we were REALLY lucky an everyman like Jones was available at 18 for us. Turns out his jack-of-all-trades designation, originally intended as a slight, has instead become a boon. He's good at everything. There are no holes in his game. In limited doses his outside shooting is actually pretty good. I still don't know if he'll be a better fit at starter for us than a guy like Millsapp. But hell what a piece in this rotation. He's just what the doctor ordered.
Funny how he's always on the money with the players they always try to move up for. Cousins, Rubio, Lillard( which I remember people on here saying wth), Valanciunas, Hibbert, and half the 2009 NBA draft which was supposed to be weak but Morey ended up taking half the draft picks . Obviously Morey wasn't very successful at trading for most of these guys except the best one in Harden , but his track record for evaluating talent in the draft shows a lot.
T-Jones has looked absolutely solid, and he hasn't had the privileges that some rookies get playing on bad teams. He definitely looks better than T-Rob.
Morey's draft failings has always been the need to go for the home run. His best drafts have always come from not needing to draft for the star. Now that we have two stars, Morey can really go back to simply drafting BPAs. I'm very certain if he had the choice between Morris and Leonard again, he'd pick Leonard in a heartbeat to add to this current roster.
MKG is actually a really solid player. He doesn't put up flashy stats in the least but this guy could develop into one of the best defenders in the NBA. He has also shown the lust for improving his game.