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The path traveled by the 25th overall pick of the 2008 NBA draft

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by desi tmac91, Nov 20, 2010.

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What player would make the best fit for the Rockets right now

  1. Nicolas Batum

    164 vote(s)
    49.5%

  2. Darrell Arthur

    2 vote(s)
    0.6%

  3. Donte Greene

    8 vote(s)
    2.4%

  4. Ron Artest

    115 vote(s)
    34.7%

  5. Trevor Ariza

    32 vote(s)
    9.7%

  6. Courtney Lee

    10 vote(s)
    3.0%
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  1. desi tmac91

    desi tmac91 Member

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    On the night of the extremely talented 2008 NBA draft, the Houston Rockets were sitting on the 25th pick in the first round. Normally many wouldn't expect anything more than a long-term project or 9th or 10th man off the bench, but tonight was different as the draft was stocked with great talent in both rounds. Houston tried to move up to the 'teen picks to try and snatch Brandon Rush or Courtney Lee, but Daryl Morey came to no avail. After the Orlando Magic selected Lee with the 22nd pick, the Rockets didn't pout and they set their sights on another prospect.

    Houston selected the ever so talented and potential loaded French native, Nicolas Batum. Batum was earlier thought to be a lottery pick but slipped to the Rockets' lap. Sounds like a great pick right? Sure but Daryl Morey and the Rockets were not done.

    Shortly after the announcement of the 25th pick, Houston traded the rights to Batum to the Portland Trailblazers for the draft rights to Darrell Arthur and Joey Dorsey. Arthur was considered to be a late lottery pick and many predicted to go to the Sacramento Kings at the 12th pick (they would take Jason Thompson instead), but a heart condition recently discovered in his physical caused him to drop. By making this trade the Rockets c-blocked their divisional rival, the San Antonio Spurs, and also picked up another pick (Dorsey).

    Arthur was a Rocket (most consider this a three team deal but many Rockets fans recall Morey trading for Arthur's rights) for all but 30 minutes to an hour. Houston would make another deal, this time with the Memphis Grizzlies, in which Arthur draft rights were traded and in return the Rockets finally received the player they were targeting all night long in Donte Greene. Greene was another projected late lottery pick but his stock dropped after word got out of Donte's poor attitude in a Nets workout. Houston was absolutely enamored by Donte's length, athleticism and high scoring ability. The sky was the limit and Tracy McGrady (at the time) seemed like the perfect mentor for the rookie.

    Just a couple of weeks after Donte Greene scored 40 points in a Rockets summer league game, he was traded along with Bobby Jackson and a future first round pick (Omri Casspi) to the Sacramento Kings for the controversial Ron Artest, Sean Singletary and Patrick Ewing Jr. Artest, a former All-Star and regarded as one of the NBA's elite perimeter defenders, would help lead the Houston Rockets to their first second round appearance in over a decade and force a game 7 with the future NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers.

    After the season many thought the Rockets would resign Ron Artest to a multiple year deal but after news of Yao's season ending injury got out, Houston got cold and merely offered Artest a $10 million one year deal. Artest was offended by the Rockets short term offer and would bolt to the team that ended his Rockets' season, the Lakers. Houston in turn signed the Lakers young athletic forward Trevor Ariza to a Mid-Level Exception (MLE) multi-year deal. Adelman would later state that Ariza would be the Rockets new #1 option as they try to turn him into an all-star. The experiment failed miserably but Trevor put together a strong performance in the second half of the season that included a triple double game against his future team, the New Orleans Hornets.

    With no sign of warning Daryl Morey traded Trevor Ariza in a multi team deal for the player he targeted 2 years ago, Courtney Lee. Morey and Adelman spoke very highly of Lee, praising his work ethic, basketball IQ and defense. Unfortunately the Rockets would struggle early on the season with a 3-9 record and Lee hasn't been able to show the skills that Morey has sought after ever so much. With rumors of a potential trade for an all-star to help the Rockets get back into form, could Lee be packaged? Or will Houston decide to keep Lee if he shows improvements as the season goes along? Only time will tell.
     
    #1 desi tmac91, Nov 20, 2010
    1 person likes this.
  2. Juxtaposed Jolt

    Juxtaposed Jolt Member

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    Artest brought the toughness that we needed. And it seemed like it left with Artest, when he bolted for the Lakers.

    I do miss Trevor Ariza right now as well. Battier is just...ugh.
     
    #2 Juxtaposed Jolt, Nov 20, 2010
  3. RKREBORN

    RKREBORN Member

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    So we ended up trading the 25th (Batum) pick and another first round pick (Omri) for Courtney Lee (the 22nd pick)? Lol fail.
     
    #3 RKREBORN, Nov 20, 2010
  4. Htown's2kFinest

    Htown's2kFinest Member

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    Should've never traded Batum. He's become one of the league's best defenders already.
     
    #4 Htown's2kFinest, Nov 20, 2010
  5. RKREBORN

    RKREBORN Member

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    Dude, are 2k10 servers down for good? Been trying to play for 2 weeks now!
     
    #5 RKREBORN, Nov 20, 2010
  6. shortfuse3

    shortfuse3 Member

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    I think i'd take Batum over Trevor Ariza sicne he's a better offensively. Both have the same type of long body but Ariza's instincts might bve a tad better and he's proven.
     
    #6 shortfuse3, Nov 20, 2010
  7. RudyTBag

    RudyTBag Contributing Member
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    Batum is a complete stud, but I think Ronald was worth it.


    At the time we still expected Tracy to get healthy so we could roll out

    Aaron Brooks
    Tracy McGrady
    Ron Artest
    Luis Scola
    Yao Ming
    ------------------
    Kyle Lowry
    Von Wafer
    Shane Battier
    Carl Landry
    Dikembe Mutombo

    It was worth a shot. Painful though...
     
    #7 RudyTBag, Nov 20, 2010
  8. Pizza_Da_Hut

    Pizza_Da_Hut I put on pants for this?

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    Didn't we still have Rafer at that point in time?...
     
    #8 Pizza_Da_Hut, Nov 20, 2010
  9. RudyTBag

    RudyTBag Contributing Member
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    Hmm good question, was Brooks off the bench? Tis a possibility

    I remember only Brooks with Ron for some reason...
     
    #9 RudyTBag, Nov 20, 2010
  10. Plowman

    Plowman Contributing Member
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    We maneuvered our way into Artest and were on our way to a title when Yao went down.
    Plus Lee is a nice piece ....Morey has really done a great job negotiating the twists and turns of Yao/Tracy's health. He has successfully straddled the line between being flexible e.enough to feed our window while positioning us to be a player long-term.
     
    #10 Plowman, Nov 20, 2010
  11. Plowman

    Plowman Contributing Member
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    ........and wasn't there a trade exemption acquired in there too?
     
    #11 Plowman, Nov 20, 2010
  12. Giant9erRocket

    Giant9erRocket Hakeem Olajuwon Status

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    On the espn weekend dime the Trailblazers are saying Batum is "untouchable". Out of all players listed in the poll, any of them are touchable.
     
    #12 Giant9erRocket, Nov 20, 2010
  13. T-Slack

    T-Slack Member

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    The decision to trade the rights of Nicolas Batum was ALMOST as bad as the Rudy Gay trade. Morey was so short sighted in those trade. But you know what people like to say. In Morey we trust. :rolleyes:
     
    #13 T-Slack, Nov 20, 2010
  14. Air Langhi

    Air Langhi Contributing Member

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    That is a championship caliber team. Two superstars. Three solid starters and a great 2nd unit.
     
    #14 Air Langhi, Nov 20, 2010
  15. CJLarson

    CJLarson Member

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    This 100%....stop dwelling on the past, it was the right move at the time.
     
    #15 CJLarson, Nov 20, 2010
  16. meh

    meh Contributing Member

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    It's pretty depressing to see how quickly injuries decimated us. In just the beginning of 2008, we actually expected BOTH Yao and T-Mac to be at least somewhat healthy.

    Morey basically rolled the dice on Artest to form our "big 3" and only to see #1 and #2 go down. Yeah, that kind of sucked.
     
    #16 meh, Nov 20, 2010
  17. Dei

    Dei Member

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    Batum, definitely, but that's said in hindsight. If Yao hadn't gone down in that Lakers series and would've been ready last year, we would've kept Artest instead of going after Trever Ariza and kept on rolling.
     
    #17 Dei, Nov 20, 2010
  18. JMAD21

    JMAD21 Member

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    Not gonna lie, I'm starting to miss ariza!

    I was high on lee but I really think this trade gas hurt us on both sides of the ball!
     
    #18 JMAD21, Nov 20, 2010
  19. DaDakota

    DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!

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    I am tired of looking back, the situation now is different.

    It is like people trying to compare Battier to Gay, everyone knew Gay would eventually be better but the team was trying to win NOW with Tmac and Yao.

    Sometimes crap doesn't work out.

    DD
     
    #19 DaDakota, Nov 20, 2010
  20. opticon

    opticon Member

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    I think if Morey knew Ish was going to be as good as he is right now Ariza would have been kept and Brooks and other assets would have been flipped for other positions of need.

    The rumor was Brooks and Ariza had Beef and someone needed to go. Ariza was the easier asset to flip.

    Something that has always rung true in the nba is if somebody wants what you have there is a reason behind it, and you better make sure that you know that reason.

    There is serious value in a player that can guard all 3 perimeter positions and get you at least 10 points a night.
     
    #20 opticon, Nov 20, 2010
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