I have been a big VSpan supporter since well before we signed him and I am still on the side that he could be a hell of an NBA player. The guy has great lateral quickness, a great first step with good passing instincts and looks like the type of player that can impact a game defensively as well. His main issues IMO are his turnovers and lack of an outside shot. I would love to see what the guy can do under Adelman but we are less than a week away from the draft and there are guys that can help us...maybe not imeadiatly but players that can be solid roll players if not very good starters in time. IMO draft day should be the deadline for VSpan to decide if he wants to give the NBA and the Rockets another try. If he still has not made up his mind then I say trade him. Obviously I like the scenario that would package Spanoulis with Snyder and Sura for Ron Artest, but at this point I would even take Dallas second round pick at 34 for him. Some of the players that could be available at the end of the 1st and the beginning of the 2nd are as follows: Morris Almond: he has been discused in detail on this board. He has excellent size for a 2 guard and statistically the best SG coming out of college. Nick Fazekas: Highly underatted because of his supposed lack of athleticism. Statistically the best power forward in the draft and its not even close. He rebounds better than Jaokim Noah, Al Horford and Brandan Wright. He blocks almost as many shots a game as those guys as well. Jared Dudley: The guy that carried Boston College when Sean Williams decided extra cirrecular activities were more important than basketball and was kicked off the team. If he had 2 or 3 more inches of hieght he would be lottery pick but at 6'7" he is seen as a tweener. He had a great pre draft work out in Florida Petteri Koponen: 19 year old kid that has been blowing every one away at all the pre draft combines. great size and very good athleticism for a PG. Could be this years steal of the draft. Taurean Green: A shoot first PG that comes from a winning program in college (Florida). Thrives in big games and has great range on his outside shot. Maybe we could package what ever pick we could get for VSpan with our current pick and pick someone that might be a little more of a lock to help us out now such as Tiago Splitter, Acie Law or Jason Smith. In any case I just think that this draft is too deep for us to waist a potential pick on someone that does not want to be here if we can not get some kind of comitment from him by draft day.
I have a feeling we are going to be trading the pick. It could be to move up in the draft, but more than likely it will be part of a package to bring in a proven PF. The org has been quoted a couple of times as saying that a #26 pick is not likely enough to have an immediate impact (if at all).
our targets shou; be PFs for the draft that can rebound and add toughness. So we should be looking at joakim noah, sean williams, glen davis, tiaogo splitter, and josh mcroberts. I think we should be looking at a trade with atlanta if they do not draft mike conley with their thirrd pick. That way we shoudl trade them rafer alston + any logjam piece at the swing position assuming bonzi comes back and get sheldon williams or the 11th pick should joachim noah magically falls there. They have incentives to do this hopefully since they'll probablyu be looking at al horford. what do you guys think...i actually like sheldon williams alot because he's a very good rebounder, but not too sure if he fits the 'mad dog' catagory that tmac was talking about.
For some reason I've been a big fan of Josh McRoberts. He's a smart player with great footwork. Doesn't really have a post game yet, but he is still effective around the basket. A little work on jumper could probably turn him into a Brad Miller type of offensive player, which would be perfect complement for Chuck. Also a big fan of Sean Williams. Seems like a Stromile Swift clone, but he's activily trying to get his life together and work on his game. Exelent shot blocker, and one of the most athletic players available in the entire draft. If he put some muscle on, I could easily understand Lucas compared him to Amare (Though I doubt he would ever dominate around the basket like him at all). I would be happy with either player, but it's my gut feeling that our pick is being packaged for a proven commodity.
IMO, just from piecing rumors together, i would bet that at least 2 things hinge on prerequisite moves coming to fruition. 1. if bonzi decides to stay then head may be traded. adelman sees bonzi as a SG, that doesn't leave any minutes for luther. 2. if the rockets can land an early second round pick, they will trade the first pick in a package. the rockets seem to like fazekas and baby. if they can land one of them in the second round (and there is no need to draft 2 PF's), then the #26 may be on the move. thoughts on my interpitation of the latest rumors?
I agree with point number 2 (and by agree I mean that's how I interpret it as well AND I think its a good plan). As for #1, I don't know if that's true and I kind of hope that it isn't. I support the "win-now" mentality, but at best Bonzi will be around 1 more year. If he comes back next year, he won't be back the year afterwards. I'd hate to lose Luther. I mean if we get something good for him, ok...maybe, but I really think Luther could be a very special player in this leauge (despite how he played in the playoffs)
We watched the Jazz "Paper Boy" give Utah some extended athletic minutes. So I'm hoping we can land a Sean Williams or Glen Big Baby. We already have Fraztekas in Novak. No need to duplicate the good shooting, slow, 6"10" non athletic, and low strength power forward.
I'm REALLY worried we are gonna shovel Span to the Mavericks, or somewhere else, only to watch him blossom into a serious baller.
Although Novak played PF in college, his game is that of a SF who can occasionally play PF in the NBA. His game really does not overlap Fazekas. Fazekas plays close to the basket while Novak plays closer to the 3-pt line and loves to shoot from behind screens.
yeah i agree... Vassillis Spanoulis never outshined all of the USA guards last year in the FIBA Worlds Basketball Tournament... I mean i never saw him cross dwayne wade over and make a sweet no look pass to anyone and i didnt see him abuse the Utah Jazz guards in the last game of the season... but then again thats just me.
I still have hope that we get a chance to see what V-Span can do -- or in the worst case scenario trade him on trade day for the rights to Petteri Koponen. Either way we have a backup point guard that we can groom for a starting role.
Oden gives props to McRoberts in the first paragraph of this article when asked "who he would take if he was picking first. Instead of saying himself or Kevin Durant" but maybe just because the two are friends http://www.nba.com/sonics/news/oden_feature_070622.html
