Wayne Simien

I don't follow college basketball much, so.... should I be worried about a 6'7" PF? It's not like many of them have had great careers. I want something more than just a serviceable 4 playing for the Rockets. In this offense he needs to be more than that. I don't know how well his 11 rebs translates into the NBA. There are a lot of short PF's that have done nothing in the NBA. The ones that have were superstars (Barkley) or very good players (a healthy Larry Johnson). Are you guys saying this guy can be a Barkley or a LJ?

 

if simien falls to us.....that would be great. CD will bring in quality guys that can contribute, but know their role and will not be a problem in the locker room. i was watching kings/sonics series and mobley holds onto the ball too much. he would kill the movement that we achieved after trading away jjackson. mobley has game, but relies too much on dribble penetration. i'm not sure about simien's health, but he looks nba ready. we've got players wanting to come to houston, so CD has to make sure he picks the one that will fit in the best. that's why swift will not be here. you have to question his desire. and he's just an athletic freak, but may not give you 100%.

if we draft simien, i can see jho starting and simien coming off the bench, splitting time at the 4. i think we will be keeping jho because he fits our need, plus i dont think any team wants his long contract.

i don't know if CD would take a chance on NVE, but he could really provide us a scoring punch when the offense goes stale. we've seen the offense go 4, 5 possessions without scoring. i remember hearing that he wants to play in htown. don't know if he gets a long with everyone else, but if he wants to win a championship, he should conform.

 

They won't exercise it.

 

NVE's contract is expiring next year, but it's a whopping 12 MIL.

I do not want NVE or Mighty Mouse.

 

Maybe the 5 or 6 games I saw him play biased me about his total ability. First, he looks undersize......rather he is undersized. He does not have great interior footwork in comparism to lets say Ike Diogu. He did be a great pick but I will not be buoyed by it.

He has a glowing scouting report but I still cannot shake off the images of his game against Bucknell, Texas Tech, Mizzou.

When I saw him play, he was always hot and cold, kerkyl & hyde. He was consistently awol in big moments and failed to pull dull key rebounds. And his injuries - I am afraid it may continue to linger. Maybe I am suffering from a perception thingy but what I saw and the scouting reports were a bit off.

All in all, what I saw when I watched him did not really make me excited but I will settle if he is rated the best available player by CD/JVG come #24 pick. For now, I will prefer an athletic freak like Warrick if he available or a more dependable stud like JoeyG.

 

Rodman was 6'8" , Barkley 6'5" many many good PFs are in the 6'8-6'10" range......

If he is there, we should grab him.

A good sound basketball player who is also an athlete....yes please.

DD

 

I'd like Simien with the pick, but I still don't want to go to war at the 4 spot with just him (or Warrick, or Turiaf) and JH (and Padget, Spoon, etc). More than half of the 20ish 1st rounders never make it, and another quarter are barely servicable as NBA players. We don't want to count on our #24 pick for a starter or even 1st line back up. We take whomever there who we think will be an NBA player period.

Swift may be soft, but his stats don't show it. He rebounds OK and his blocks are outstanding mer minute basis. He also shoots OK. If he didn't have the "soft label", we would have no chance to land him. He could work out for us as a max MLE, 6 years 37 mil.

Fortson is not going to be a free agent this year, he will exercise his option. Much better off with Reggie Evans anyway (younger/better), and he may be the odd man out of Seattle (if they take care of Ray, Radm, and maybe James and AD 1st).

 

From nbadraft.net:

He is an absolute beast on the block. He has an NBA body already and is very strong. Finishes with ferocity rarely seen at the college level. Loves to dunk and does so like he has a personnel vendetta against the rim. <---- Does that not sound like EXACTLY what we need?

He is a dominating rebounder because of his leaping ability, strength and willingness to jockey for position as opposed to just trying to jump over people. He has a surprisingly soft touch around the bucket when he is not ripping the rim off of the backboard. He also has the ability to knock down the mid range jumper just like former KU big men Nick Collison and Raef Lafrentz. He runs well especially considering his bulk and can handle the ball fairly well for his size.



Simien's Career Honors (NOT INCLUDING 2004-2005 SEASON)

2004: AP Third Team All-American... USBWA All-District 6... First Team All-Big 12... Big 12 Player of the Week (Dec. 2, Feb. 8)... Naismith Award Finalist... Wooden Award Finalist... NABC All-District 12 First Team... Wooden Award Preseason Top 50... Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Media)... Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Coaches)... Dutch Lonborg Free Throw Percentage Award... Bill Bridges Redbounding Award...James Naismith Captain Award... Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen Most Valuable Player Award. 2003: Preseason NIT All-Tournament Team... Dick Harp Field Goal Percentage Award. 2002: Big 12 All-Reserve Team.

Just look at all those accolades for his junior season (2004). Impressive to say the least.

 

You are correct - his scouting report is outstanding and seems perfect for our need. Just that he might have been a case of bad timing when I saw him but in all I expect JVG/CD and co. to do justice with our #24 pick. I am very convinced that we get a solid player or even a starter with that pick.

I only wish we still have our second round pick - we could have had a player like Hodge, Azubuike, Den gai, Gilchrist, etc. with it. One could get a descent player like Travis Diener or Bracey Wright with the 55th pick.

 

I'm sold!

 

Sounds great but I am seriously doubtful that he drops down to us. He will be picked up sooner.

 

I think people are getting too worked up about a #24 pick. It's possible to get good players outside the lottery in the NBA draft. But almost NEVER a big men. You can get athletic swingmen with a low pick. Tayshuan Prince comes to mind. As does Josh Howard. It's even possible to find talented high schoolers like Rashard Lewis or Al Harrington at such a pick.

But NEVER a big man. Any true power forward or center with any sort of great upside gets picked very early in the draft. If Simien lasts until #24, then his upside is Kenny Thomas or Danny Fortson.

If I were the Rockets and I want to score big with the pick, I'd go for the talented perimeter defender. As much as the lack of a true PF hurt us, it was also Dallas' athleticism and quickness that truly did us in.

 

Sign Dennis Rodman.

 

I agree that you don't want to count on a 24 pick. We want to address the immediate problems with FA and hope to find a late 1st rounder who will be a player some day. That said this draft is deep at PF, and Kenny Thomas/Danny Fortson/Reggie Evans type would help.

Also, Ben Wallace, Brad Miller, Antonio Davis (I think), Dalembert, Mahummad, Al Harrington, PJ Brown, Elden Campbell, Vlade, Cliff Robinson. There are some 4s or 5s taken 24 or later who make it as above average NBA starters. But it is less than 1 per year.

I think we do take the noncenter on the board who we think will make it in the NBA. If there is a tie (prospects rate about the same), we would take a four, three, two, one, than a five. Thus given the PF depth, I give it close to 50/50 it is a PF. More than likely this guy only gets garbage time, but we hope when JH is winding down he can produce something.

 

Agreed. I hope the Rockets sign a PF early on (Marshall, SAR, Swift, Chandler) so they can see where their biggest need is.

IF we can sign a PF and cannot deal JH, I would want to pickup an athletic shooting swingman (Grahm, Garcia, Miles).

IF not, Simien/Warrick/Turiaf would all be pretty good picks at #24.