It would be hard to do at this point. We would have to make trades for a couple of significant rookies. I think it makes sense for this season, but we need more players that are still learning. Though, giving Joey Dorsey 36 minutes a game would be a good start... I have been for tanking, but I am also one of the guys that said we should be contending for the #8 seed with what we have, which is more optimistic than most of you guys.
Never have been for tanking, never will. Although some of those that were for it, meant it because they thought we'd be rolled off the court every game. Now that they see there is life, they will hope off the desolation bandwagon. As for the young talent, the only one we should have fear about getting developed is Dorsey. Poor kid was looking pissed sitting on the bench in the suit last night.
He's pretty much a Derrick Rose clone from the looks of it - absurdly athletic, great handles, solid court vision, raw offensive game when not driving and dunking, and shaky jumpshot. I'm not sure about his attitude, though. He doesn't seem nearly as humble and level-headed as Rose.
If it were that simple: Stud draft pick vs. fighting for 8th seed... sure, I agree with you. However, the upside is really a no more than 20-25% chance at the top pick if you are winning less than 20 games.. and then there isn't a guarantee even then. I mean... 17 win season by the Kings netted them Tyreke Evans. And to get to the 17 wins you probably have to jettison some talent for nothing but picks in return-- probably at leat 2 of Battier, Hayes, Scola, Ariza, Brooks, etc. On the other hand...is this team capable of no better than "fighting for the 8th"? We shall see, but so far, they've done better than that. I am thinking the best plan is to show how good the current crop of players are and eithe ruse that to attract a free agent, or use the trade value that would be built up with the team winning to look to add another star via trade either before the trade deadline or after the season.
I remember Morey and Adelman mentioned a couple of times. They want our young players to have some playoff experience this season so that the rockets can be ready to contend when Yao is back next season.
We don't necessarily have to dump the talent... Landry got shot in the leg, remember, and he came back. Maybe an accident here, some food poisoning there... OK, 5th seed. We're artificially talent-depressed this season. Having a shot at 5th seed this year doesn't excite me. If we get a decent draft pick, we're bumping up our talent. Look at what Morey can do with a low 1st or a 2nd.
So... what would Morey have done with, say, the 4th pick of this past draft? http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2009.html Stephen Curry or Ricky Rubio?
Well, if we were to go by Morey's standards, losing Battier alone for an exp+a raw young prospect would reduce our wins by tonnes (i.e. 20+ wins)... to be quite frank, I don't really think its that important which draft pick we get. (lottery pick would be preferable of course hehe), but I think trading the likes of Battier and Dorsey is more to increase capspace in 2010 than anything else. I'd love to see what Morey can do with 10-12 million in capspace in the summer of 2010. Hes got one shot at it.
Is having Yao on the team a good thing? He's not going to help us this year. I mean, having Rubio would be a big deal, though not right away. Look at San Antonio, when they had to wait for David Robinson. I mean, what if we tanked enough to add another Chase Budinger or Carl Landry? Is that worth more than having a little better season? And, let's not forget, a rookie will be working for low dollars (less cap hit) for several years.
Well, since you have a link to a thread I started, I suppose I should get a rebuttal. The attitude that this organization has built over the last few years, it too strong of will to allow anything like that to happen. Teams that win championships have that characteristic over the span of their being a champion/contender. Teams have gotten better in the past by having a terrible year and getting a swell pick. I did advocate it. I didn't think the game could be played like that in the NBA, because it rarely is. But we seem to do it. Its the reason we can't bring back Tracy. We need an elite wing in this offense, but he has to be more efficient than Tmac. The guys play well together and it should be enough most nights. We need to see what sorts of adjustments our opponents make over the next 20 games. I would take a 8-13 draft pick and expirings for McGrady right now. Just to make sure we foster what we have. Which is hunger and team work. I think these guys could win 47 or 48 games.
I keep seeing you spout this crap, so how many times does it need to be rammed into your skull that Gortat was never going to come here for the MLE, since Orlando made a complete fool out of Dallas when they did?
Why a 1 star thread? Its not a bad thread, just regular discussion. There's plenty people here who advocated the Tim Duncan approach. You know if the Rockets started out 2-5 and lost to the Thunder the tank advocators would be out in droves. I dont believe in taking but its a tempting approach. You can always go with "youth movement" as a good front for tanking and hold in some fan interest. But then its like...dont you want those youths to be good?
Morey was extremely high on Rubio, but he could also have packaged that pick in some trade deal ala Batum->Artest. And we're lucky that Bud's toughness was so much in question that he fell to the 2nd round. He was supposed to be a lottery pick in many people's minds.
It's not like you can actually manipulate how young players perform. I mean, imagine the Rockets with Budinger playing like a 2nd round rookie, Ariza and Landry remain role players and not expand their game. Then what are we? A 1-5 or 2-4 team looking at a 30 win season? High lottery pick doesn't come from just "youth movement", it comes from FAILED "youth movement".
