It appears from Houston's actions and JVG's rep, that draft picks are no longer valued. I think that the team could not be more mistaken. The best teams do make judicious FA acquisitions, but some of the best signings are made by taking risks in the middle of the 1st round. Ginobli and Tony Parker are obviously invaluable for the Spurs. But other players for the Kings and Mavericks have been extremely beneficial even during their playoff run. If you sign a nice, valuable veteran, you might get 2 or 3 years of quality service at a high price. With draft picks, though, you could always get a real gem. You can always get someone to grow with McGrady and Yao, providing fresh enthusiasm and unknown talent. There's no doubt that draft picks fail sometimes. In fact, most do. In trading away the unknown commodities, we're eliminating a great deal of risk. But not all of it - Piatkowski was a "proven veteran" who busted. This team isn't one player away from a championship. It's a good team, with two excellent young players. But no matter how things fell out, we weren't going to win the title next year. Even with Barry, Fisher... and anybody else we speculated about getting. But add a "lucky" pick - like Ginobli, Turkoglu, etc? We might just strike the jack pot. At the very least, I think it's a risk we have to take.
I hate it when the Rockets aren't in the First Round of the draft. Please keep our draft picks and cast the dice finding an occasional gem.
Yeah, JVG is known for not trusting young players. But as original post pointed out, young players could be really valueable if they can play. Just look at Yao, 2nd best center in the league, is being paid 4mil a year, while Shaq is paid 30mil this seaon and all the other quality (tho not as good) centers are being paid much more. Look at the Spurs and Mavs. They found some real gems in the 2nd round picks as well as free agents unwanted (or unawared) by other teams, Ginobili, Bowen, Josh Howard, Daniels, Devin Brown. And they also spend a lot of time fostering their intentional scouting. Just look at Nowitzki and Parker. It is much more economical to follow the route of the othe two texas teams.
You seem to forget that the Rockets are not very good at "mid first or late first rounders". Has Nachbar "panned out"? Maybe. How about the last 2?? Jason C. was a great backup Center no? What a waste of a pick. Well, that's the crap shot of the late picks, most don't pan out. Now, a 2nd round out of nowhere is more likely for the rockets. Let's not forget our great 7th pick. Great talent but missed the point on heart. Unless you want the Rockets to get a high drafte pick - but you KNOW what that means.... I am hoping that the Orlando 15th was a decent pick from last year, don't you? If Gaines pans out just a little, man, that would be some lopsided trade....
Thing is, if there was ANY draft the Rockets wanted to miss, it was this one. It was all of about 5 or 6 quality players deep. A lot of scouts suggested that anything below 14 in this draft was like a second rounder any other year. Besides, I'd rather have low draft picks because it means we aren't in the lottery. Contending teams RARELY build through the draft. Mostly, they are bulit on a combination of trades and free agency with the draft mixed in, but it is probably at least tied with free agency in importance if not behind it.
Considering the trade value of a late first round pick is pretty much zero, I would rather the Rockets held on to their first rounders rather than just tossing them into a trade like they're nothing. With so many high schoolers and foreigners entering, we may be able to find a player with a ton of potential. Or way may be able to get some quality college players that slip because of the influx of high schoolers/foreigners. Not that I believe the Rockets should build through the draft, but it's an easy way to add some depth to a team lacking depth.
The point isn't the Rox's picks didn't pan out. It is the Rox don't have a good eye for talents like some teams. There are many rejects, or undrafted, who later on turned out to be great players. Ben Wallace, Brad Miller, Bowen, Hassel, etc. Plus the teams who missed on players like Nowitzki because teams didn't spend enough time to scout international players. Also another factor is you not only need to draft players you also need to give them PT so they can actually develop. Boki has decent potential, too bad he wasn't given PT under Rudy and JVG, also Smith when the season was already meaningless. Jiri Welsch was drafted right below Boki. He didn't get much PT on a crappy Warriors team, but after he got traded to Boston he quickly became a starter. That tells you how important to be able to read the talent. West and Popvich IMO are the best in the league to find talents. Don Nelson and Joe Dumars are not bad either.
Seems that everytime they say it is a bad draft there are about 10-15 solid players that come out of it. Check back in 4 years and see ... DD
Even though this draft was pretty weak this year, we have missed out on some young talent the last 2 years.
wasnt it around the time of the draft that the rockets were reportedly rumored to have wanted to Buy a first rounder. its not like theyre throwing picks around like they grow on trees. the rockets have a vested interest in bring in your talent. they are just being smart about it, people complain about the rockets not having a first rounders the last 2 years, and you only have to see that the two years before that they had 5.
Please tell me the Rox have a first round pick next year. I don't care how low it is, I want them to keep it!
What I don't like about the Draft these days is that the players come in so young and so raw that more often than not, they don't contribute during their rookie contract. They go on elsewhere and contribute after it's up and the team that drafted them has lost all patience with them if they contribute at all. 3 years guarunteed to a guy who may never contribute anything to your club. Yet he's right there wasting a spot on the roster. I couldn't wait to be rid of Collier and Langhi. I have serious doubts that Nachbar will ever be a solid player in the NBA. I'd love for it to happen, but I'm just doubtful. At this point, I'd prefer the Rockets trade their late 1st round picks for early 2nd round picks. At least then you're not stuck with somebody like Collier wasting cap room and a roster spot for three years.
Jmwilliamson, I gotta agree with you. I think the disintegration process of the NBA has just rapidly sped up this offseason. This offseason, with the unbelievable amount of highschool kids that were drafted and the young euros being drafted on potential and then with the ridiculous head scratching contracts that have been dished out to these bench players this year, the owners, players, and agents, have just made a turn down a road where theres no turning back and a road that will lead to the crumbling of the NBA.
The draft is not as valuable these days because it has become potential hunting. Potential hunting is basically throwing the dice. It's luck more than anything. Every team has got trash from the draft. Some teams are lucky enough to find gems. Yes, it's true that every year they say the draft is weak and most years turns out a bunch of good players. But WHO of each year's draftees will turn out to be good can only be determined from hindsight. The fact that TMac and Kobe were taken so low, and Kwame Brown was taken so high tells you how reliable the draft is in terms of getting talent. In short, draft picks are luxury rather than neccesity. It's good to try your luck on a Vegas slot machine if you have extra change. It's not good if your lifelihood depends on it's result.
Haven, good point about draft picks. , Cuttino Kenny, Horry and Sam helped us a lot. Horry and Sam helped a veteran team win championships.
Build through the draft, I agree. BUT, the Lakers seem to come out with contributors like Fisher, Kareem Rush & even Luke Walton while all of our draft pick end up spending a couple of years overseas or in jail.
