Nice response. We pretty much think alike. Only thing is, JoeD played with Isiah and not Chauncey. Chauncey had Rip, Prince, Sheed and Big Ben.
All these years and people still think Ariza was a mistake. Ariza was a very good piece to a championship contending team. He was just a victim of the Yao-less affect.
Yes, these are facts, but the situation is so much different now. There is a whole new variable that wasn't added. The affect that 4(5 if you include Morris) players picked in the top 20 would have on the same team.
He was a mistake for the Rockets at that time. They were hoping he would become something more than what he was in LA. As it turned out, that is what he was, a 4th offensive option who could play D. We really didn't need that. We needed someone who could replace McGrady. It was a mistake. And Morey moved quickly to turn it into a positive, CLee.
For the money, yes. As it turns out, no disrespect to Courtney, but he too was a 4th-5th offensive option who could play D.
I don't know. Lets just call it the "multiple top 20 rookie affect". What are the chances of 4 top 20 picks making a championship contending team? What are those chances if one becomes an allstar? What are those chances if two become allstars? 3? 4? What are the chances if one becomes a superstar? 2? 3? 4? What are the chances of having one superstar and one allstar? 2? 3? 4? What are the chances of having four busts? 3? 2? 1? It's still a crapshoot, yes, but there are just too many possibilities thrown in when you have a situation such as the Rockets.
I stopped here and proceeded to LMAO. With blind loyalty like this to an unproven "collect the assets" plan...what else would you expect other than polarization. Some of you seriously need to get a clue. Put down the "genius" tag until something real is achieved beyond treading water. UPDATE: A better method of evaluation would be how many players received votes for the All NBA and All Defensive teams. That's a better gauge than "All Star".
Wow! DMo and Lamb are well acquainted. <iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WoQvHwue-sU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Therein lies the difference between inspired picks and busts: what is in the heart, the work ethic, the fit and need of the team drafting. DMo may well prove he has all the intangibles coupled with talent and size and become something special. Maybe. Royce did it last year at Hoiberg U; can he repeat it at KMc Tech? I retain my hope.
Obligatory: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gqdNe8u-Jsg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
OK. Well, so back to the OP's point — If you want to look at best case scenarios (fairly realistic, though), you could see it this way: All three 2012 picks could be though of as top 10 picks. Lamb fell into the Rockets' lap; Seen as top 10 talent by most evaluators leading up to the draft. Not much of a reach there. White fell due to concerns over the anxiety issue, which is probably a non-factor. Seen by many as a top 10 prospect otherwise. Jones could be our sleeper here. Put him on a college team other than Kentucky and he might have showcased enough talent to warrant top 10 consideration. Seen by many as a steal at 18. Add to that that this draft was deep in quality talent, partly due to several prospects opting to stay in school during the lockout season. Ant then there's DMo . . .
