Actually what you said, it's hindsight. Someone above me already posted about the need for Battier vs the upside of Rudy Gay at the time. Rockets may or may not have got it wrong. We won't know because we can't tell if Rudy Gay would have developed as much with us, as he has with Memphis. That said, I do agree with your points. Can only imagine what could have been if we had him at this time
I know it's 2010. The Grizzlies are not better than the Rockets. They never were, and they aren't now.
Rudy Gay with another game winning/game saving play tonight. Conley earning his money. With Xavier Henry's emergence, OJ Mayo may be available. Overall, Mayo > Martin...OJ is actually a 2 way player...Yes Rockets' fans those kinds of players do exist out there. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to GATER again. For those that are saying this is hindsight are forgetting all those people who were against the trade to begin with.
If you think the Memphis Grizzlies, of all teams, are going to keep Randolph, Gasol, and Mayo around with how they've locked up Gay and Conley, I have a nice bridge to sell you. I would trust the Clippers to do that before I would the Grizzlies.
LMAO...the least experienced team in the NBA has peaked? The 2nd youngest team in the NBA has peaked? Why would our billionaire owner, who has paid the luxury tax several times in the past, not pay for the team that he has personally built? Makes zero sense...
Aaron Brooks had a shot blocked under the rim down two as time expired. That's called going down to the last possible second.
You were already disappointed by how Yao "always broke his foot in the playoffs"? I guess you don't remember then that Gay was drafted in 2006. Yao Ming had played in 80+ games in three of his four seasons at that point. So he had only had one injury in his career.
I think as far as the Gay vs Battier debate, you guys have always been a win now type of organization, and that's not a problem until that's a problem. It takes 4 or 5 years to build a team with rookie talent, but you guys are always looking to re-load. Building from the draft up is always the better way to go, because you aren't going to have a Roy or Gay fall into your lap very often unless you draft the guy yourself. Case in point: Hakeem. You guys might have to go through some grouping pains right now and get some more talent.
You'd think Randolph is gone but they have no reliable PF to take his spot so I would think Mayo or Gasol (Restricted FAgent) are gone and that is where the Rox can take advatage of there situation.
Gasol will be resigned. And in fact all of those guys will be resigned, if the grizzlies want to keep them. Most likely however, gasol is a done deal. Mayo will likely be traded sometime in the future before we have to deal with his contract because he doesn't fit into our team, and no other reason. Randolph is the wild card. Not sure if we will resign him or not. It depends I suppose, but if we don't resgin him it wont be because of money issues.
Gay has been really good but Conley has gotten a lot better. I thought they overpaid him but he's been playing really well. As for Mayo, the Grizzles had the worse bench in the NBA. They had like the best starting 5 when it came to scoring and production but had a big zero on the bench. Mayo is to come off and provide a spark they didn't have.
Does building up slowly through the draft really work? That's what OKC is trying to do, but we don't know yet if it's going to work. That's what Portland has done, but with their injury problems, things might be over there before they were able to accomplish anything. Looking at the last decade in the league, there are no championship teams that were built that way. The Lakers won with Shaq (free agent) and Kobe (traded as a rookie), the Spurs with Duncan (one fluke lottery season at the right time), and the Celtics with their Big Three (two obtained by trade). The Pistons championship team didn't have any key players they drafted. The Heat were built around a superstar taken by that team in the lottery.
Technically, Kobe was drafted. His draft rights were traded for Vlade Divac to the then CHA Hornets. Shaq wasn't drafted by the Lakers. But did take the Magic to the Finals as their draft pick. Would the Celtics' Three be as successful without the player they drafted? Doubtful since all 3 are no longer young players. Duncan is Duncan. But there was a strong hint of tanking going on there. You're wrong on the Pistons IMHO. They drafted Joe Dumars and originally John Salley whom they turned into picks and later brought him back. The Pistons also drafted Grant Hill who may have had a huge impact or them if not injured. But they received Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace for Hill. (DET drafted Allen Houston the season before Hill). Overall, I'd say the draft is the starting point. But it's risky if you draft the wrong player. We're only analyzing successful drafts here.
I don't think it counts as "building through the draft" if you trade a veteran for another team's first round pick and play him off your bench behind an all-star player until he becomes a superstar. I was talking about the 2004 Pistons, not the Pistons of the 1980s. If you're counting drafting Joe Dumars in 1985 as part of building that 2004 championship team through the draft because he eventually became GM, that's quite a stretch. Also, Grant Hill didn't have injury problems until he went to Orlando (it all started when he played on an injured ankle during the playoffs his last year in Detroit). Yes, they traded Hill for Wallace, but again, that doesn't really count as part of building through the draft.
