SI.com reports that Houston is interested in moving up in the draft to nab Kanter

I like what glimmertwins brought up with guys like Zach Randolph and Scola playing below the rim. Even if he isn't some top flight center jumping and dunking on everyone Kanter shows a strong work ethic, strong body, and a midrange game. He punishes defenders by bullying his way to the basket. I think this will put pressure on his defenders putting them in foul trouble potentially neutralizing the opposing teams interior defense. And why are people so worried about his shotblocking ability? He just needs to be tall, strong, be able to hold his position when defending, and be able to guard the pick and roll. Most of Yao Ming's blocks were from him holding his position and jumping straight up with hands high. He is six inches taller but it still how he should play. Your Dwight Howards, Tyson Chandlers, Josh Smiths, Andrew Boguts are raritys. It would be nice if he blocked and intimated the opposing team like them but not a necessity. He needs to protect the rim better then Brad Miller and Hill's whose minutes I would want him to have.

 

I dont see how it this is advantageous to post our business in the news for everyone to see and know. Now everyone will be driving up the price on us knowing we want to make this deal. Just stop talking Morey. Your big mouth is getting us in alot of trouble before we even get to make a deal.

 

It may or may not be advantageous, but how do you the Rockets leaked this information? Also how do you if it's even accurate?

 

Theirs a possibility of this. He could be playing a longer term strategy. If the Rockets leaked this, it could be to generate hype. Get the other teams to commit resources to this draft. Get them saying "Well, if Morey in Houston likes these two guys..."

Its a reach, but you never know.

 

It may just be speculation from the teams who's picks wer'e trying to get.. who knows how this information gets out, but i agree that the less people know about your motives the more inclined they are to deal with you.. credit to monopoly..

 

It seems every year Morey gets leaked out some info about moving up for someone in the top 3 blah blah blah...Rubio in 2009, Cousins 2010, and now Kanter 2011. Whether Morey is actually serious or its just PR stunts to improve his image..we'll see

but whatever we do I hope we trade away K-Mart and Scola for some picks in 2012 if we don't get kanter, which means a quality pick in 2012 plus development of Patterson/Williams/Lowry

 

Lol, how does leaking rumors you want to move up into the top 3 improve your image? If that was actually the case, I think the better argument would be that he does it despite hurting his image. Considering the 'rumors' never come to fruition, it would just make him look like he can never get done what he wants. Not exactly image improving material for a GM.

Sounds like the misguided Morey hate to me.

 

Do we know for fact Morey is the leak?

 

Well on the other end it looks like it's been leaked that both Toronto and Cleveland have Valanciunas higher on their draft list than Kanter.

Is that a leak in and of itself? Does it hurt Cleveland's standing then, knowing that they don't even want Kanter? Or is it a smokescreen, and do they really want Kanter over Valanciunas but have leaked the opposite? Why would they do any of this in the first place.

See what draft rumor speculation gets you. A whole bunch of self-inflicted mind games.

 

Except these leaks never work to our advantage and never have. Always ends up Morey doesnt have enough to offer or he gets passed up by another team who gets his idea because it is out there and widely known.

 

It helps because it raises fan-base awareness greatly. If Morey was just gonna say we're going to pick Patrick Patterson at number 14 and thats it then no one is going to really pay much attention to the Rockets draft. It also helps to increase the profile of his scouting abilities, now that us fans know his targets are indeed draft stars, e.g. Cousins. And he puts out this workhorse "constantly-wanting to improve image", and fans will point to how hard he tried to get Cousins, Rubio, etc..

Morey is indeed a great drafter, but he has really shown no significant results.

 

No. But I'm not actually hating on Morey if you read my post carefully. My point was Morey has always had his eyes on a few top draft prospects but from past experiences Morey is unlikely to deliver once again.

 

Thats a good point. And teams get warmed up to and cooled down by players as each workout goes by. But at the end of the day we don't have enough assets to really make a push for a draft pick that high in this draft.

 

Actually, let me rephrase all that..

Draft smokescreens and rumors are all nice/interesting/fake/real/whatever...but this situation we have with Kanter is a totally different situation than the one we had with Roy/Gay/Foye back in 06'. That time we actually had a top 10 pick and smokescreens, etc, actually had a point to them. This time we don't even have a top 10 pick and so we are not competing with any other team for the same top prospect where are right now. So, to put that into example, we had the number 8 pick and portland had the number 6 pick back in 2006 right? We were actually going after the same guy, Brandon Roy, and we had basically the same draft position to get that guy. So smokescreens, leaks, etc, could actually be utilised to gain an advantage. But now we've got the 14th pick, and we never have a sniff of a top 5 prospect (unless he slides tremedously in the draft).

So can Morey get that top 5 pick? Probably not. And so this yet another rumor that we're going after a top 5 pick is just another stab at fan's hopes and expectations. These leaks are totally different to the ones say, if someone leaked out we're going after "Alec Burks" or "Jordan Hamilton".

 

I wasnt implying you were hating on him. But knowing the source of the leak could very well lend what motivation or purpose is at work.

 

No reason to be picky. He is still better than 48 more minutes of Jordan Hill, Brad Miller and Chuck Hayes every game. You can even add next year's Thabeet to that mix of C's.

 

Maybe you should consider the fact that no one was willing to trade their top 5 picks in that draft & were happy with the players falling to them.

It's not a mistake unless there's an offer and you turn it down or you don't even put the effort into making the move, which I'm sure you have TONS of insider war room info on.... if so please share....

 

I think it's incorrect to say they never work out. If the point of the leak is to get an idea of how numerous high ranking lotto teams value their picks, and Morey is able to gauge this through discussions with these GMs based on the leak, then it is a success. That he hasn't executed a trade with that information is an indication that he though the value wasn't there - NOT that he didn't have an opportunity.

Every team is looking for an edge and when Houston inserts their name in the "let's make a big deal" rumor mill(and they always do), the conversation inevitably comes to them. If your a GM and you want to make a deal, you know Houston is almost always willing to be involved - either as a key player or as a facilitator. These rumors are just as effective in putting our name in the hat - letting teams know that we are always looking to trade. Maybe it doesn't net you anything 95% of the time, but you would hope the next time a team like Memphis is willing to give up Pau for pennies on the dollar that Houston would at least get a call to make a bid.

 

I agree. If there's any leaking going on, it's probably by the team that has the high draft pick. The rumors can only help increase interest of other GMs and raise the value of subsequent offers. Like what I think happened with Cleveland and the Rudy Gay rumor.

It would be in Morey's best interest to stay quiet, keep the other suitors away and get the deal done ASAP.