Morey understands tempo; tempo determines so many basketball games. Having a PG who can control tempo makes your team competitive.
Pre-draft it was reported Llull had no buy out in his contract and wasn't interested in playing in the NBA.
Llull's contract ends next year and he hasn't signed an extension with Real Madrid. Even if he doesn't come over in the 2011 off season, that's fine. It's not like the Rockets have no options for trades, free agents, or draft picks. The Lowry for Alston and Scola for Spanoulis trades came out of nowhere.
I just don't see how Fernandez is a reflection of how the Rockets have treated foreign players such as Yao Ming and Luis Scola. Rubio wasn't poisoned by Fernandez. He never wanted to go to the Timberwolves in the first place and threatened to stay in Europe. Idiots drafted him anyway.[/QUOTE] It's not about the Rockets but its the NBA experience. You can't compare Yao to Llull, Yao was already pegged as a top pick from the jump. And has repeatedly carried his national team in games. Scola, a case can be made for, although even there, Scola came onto the team when we really didn't have a legit PF, other then the defensive stopper known as Chuck Hayes, a rookie recovering from a college injury. Llull will have to compete with Brooks and/or Lowry to even see the court in a larger role that he appears to be getting with his current R. Madrid team. There is no guarentee he will pick up the NBA game as fast as Scola and he himself probably know it as well. Time will tell, but I can't see Llull or Les Alexander agreeing to buy out his contract early just to be a backup, especially if we are going to be making a run at a championship.
I wish there was some type of rule that would not allow players that are drafted oversees refuse to come play in the NBA. I still believe it will happen, hopefully within the next 2 years.
LOLWUT I don't know what you do for living, but should there also be an international treaty that allows, for example, a company in China to force you to come work over there? :grin:
I know it is not logical or ever going to happen, I am just saying, it sucks having a player with the potenital that Llull has and he may never even want to come here to play.
i don't remember who it was but this guy was invited like the last two years to summer league and morey either said that the next year would be his last invitation or something like he would be for sure getting a spot on the team or something because he was developing so well. sorry it was so vague and r****ded but was he talking about lull or some other euro prospect?
You said that Llull soured on the NBA, because of Rudy. I said Yao and Scola was the anti-Rudy. Rudy was also pegged as a top pick. He was drafted in the lottery.
He's a 2nd round draft pick. Morey had to take the chance that he comes over, if Morey believes the guy is a 1st round talent like Scola. It seems that some fans think 2nd round draft picks should all be rotation players. Out of 30 2nd round picks, maybe 5 of them make it to the NBA and are good enough for 2nd contract after 4 years(rookie contract). If you are hitting 1 out of 3 on 2nd rounders, you are a top drafting team.
Yeah just like jury duty.. IN CHINA Since we are talking Llull here, He is not a US citizen. He had no say if he was going to be drafted or not. He plays in Spain, his home country. He makes good money. He gets to play a lot. So again, it is kinda ridiculous to think that there should be a rule in place where an NBA team can force you to come over and play for them.
I remember him saying that he spoke with Fernandez and that other spanish guy, and I think the fact that we have 2 solid PG's in front of him will not be something good for us. He wants the ability to get some PT if he comes over here, not ride the pine with Armstrong and Jeffries. If he doesn't have an opportunity to get some PT, he'll stay in Europe and develop his game. He's a nice trading piece though
Who said we are keeping both? When Brooks was drafted, the Rockets had Mike James, Alston, John Lucas III, and Luther Head. Clutchfans was upset that Morey drafted somebody that would only ride pine. James was gone, and JLIII was let go. The funny thing about the off season, you could start with 4 PGs and and end up with only 2.
I was looking for the answer to this. So does that mean international players do not need to declare for the draft to be selected? If that is the case, then maybe that should make international players officially declare - to save everyone the trouble ... of drafting a player who doesn't want to play in the NBA in the first place. However, if they declare and then refuse to come over - then yeah, I think there should be a rule in place.
International players must declare themselves for the draft, but there are exceptions: a) Player in question is at least 22 years old at some point of the calendar year of the draft(Llull was born in 1987 so he falls under this exception) b) Player has a contrcat in some US pro league or player has played college basketball in US. I agree that if the player declares himself eligible for the draft, he shouldn't be able to refuse to play. However, this should then also cover domestical players. No more Kobe Bryant "I play only for the Lakers" or Steve Francis "I won't play in Canada".
