Poor drafting kills the rockets

Do you know anything about the NBA? It doesnt matter if he wants to spend $10000 billion on a player, WE'RE OVER THE SALARY CAP!!

 

I agree.

Trade Battier for a lottery pick - take Joachim Noah or Corey Brewer.

Package Luther with our 1st rounder and take either Acie Law or Rudy Fernandez.

If unable or unwilling to trade Battier for lotter pick (Brewer or Noah) then trade out of 1st for two 2nds and take PG Bobby Brown & PF Avis Wyatt.

 

The Rockets' current lack of depth can be traced back to our first round picks in the 2000 and 2001 drafts and the subsequent moves (or lack thereof) we made with those picks.

In 2000, we didn't want to use our #9 pick on the remaining players so we traded down for the #15 and a future pick. That was a good move - none of the players drafted from #9 to #15 (Przybilla, Keyon Dooling, Jerome Moiso, Etan Thomas, Courtney Alexander, and Matean Cleaves) were worth the #9. The bad move was using it on a player - Jason Collier - that fit a desired mold (jump shooting big man) rather than the best available first round talent (take your pick - Turkoglu, Desmond Mason, Quentin Richardson, Jamaal Magliore, Morris Peterson or even Michael Redd, though he was a 2nd round talent at the time). I know the Rockets were paranoid at the time that drafting a guard would hurt their chances for keeping Mobley, but with the exception of Redd (and Magliore, obviously), any one of these guys could have justifiably been used as a 3 (and would have been much better than Walt Williams).

Instead, Collier gave us a player who was barely NBA caliber, and who provided us with no trade value. We allowed him to walk after his 3rd year. So our net gain for our 2000 pick was 0.

In 2001, we had 3 picks which we traded for Eddie Griffin. While Griffin was a super-talented and productive college PF, he was also a headcase and a quitter (as he quit on Seton Hall once it was clear they weren't going to make the NCAA tourney). The Rockets took a chance despite having never interviewed him, which is inexcusable when trading so much value for one person. As we all know, he was a high potential player for his first season, and had quite a bit of trade value. But we kept him and watched him remain a 3-point jacking PF who couldn't play D, which lowered his trade value. And then he tried to shoot his girlfriend, which cause his value to drop to 0. That forced the Rockets to release him.

In addition, we also traded a future first round pick (owed to us for trading the rights for Mirsad Turckan, I believe) for Terrance Morris. Terrance Morris had talent, but not the mentality. The Rockets did not bring him back after his 2 year contract expired. So the net gain for our 4 first round picks used in 2001 was 0.

So if you add up these 2 years, the Rockets had 5 first round picks and ended up with no value. It's one thing to draft busts 2 years in a row, but this was the equivalent of drafting 5 busts. That's inexcusable

 

the NBA is also all about having young cheap talent

barbosa is cheap

paker and ginobili are cheap

etc...

 

So who do we go with this year?

Power Forward is a weak spot, especially defensively. PF is also weak in this draft, unless Tiago Splitter falls. He can run the court and provides size in the post. Defense is also his greatest strength right now, although he could stand to gain a few pounds.

As mentioned before, we lack depth. Especially at SG/SF. We need some size and athleticism. Brandon Rush, Derrick Byars, Morris Almond, and Arron Afflalo would all be great additions to our bench to provide some scoring.

Point guard is also weak in this draft class. Maybe we can trade for one of Portland's 2nd rounders and pick up Ramon Sessions. A pure pointguard with not alot of upside, but has good handles and can run a team.

 

Poor drafting has undoubtedly been the biggest weakness of the Rockets. We need a very good GM and a coach who are on the same page like the Bulls do.

 

Very interesting point. I believe if you list all the teams that did not make the playoff or get sweeped in the first round, you will find Rox is not that bad. Moreover, if you look at teams that consistently can not get into the playoffs, you, as a Rox fan, would be so happy because Rox has been 1 and out. Hahhahaha.

I am pretty sure that happens nearly every year. It's even worse in the NFL.
What a joy.

I am with you on what you said. But, to pick on the Rox, not beat the Utah Jazz, who nobody picked would win the championship, is unfair given virtually half of the western conference teams can not even get into the playoffs.

Oh well, what a logic.

 

13th pick: Richard Jefferson (traded to New Jersey along with Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong for Eddie Griffin)

Ughh, I'm still rather pissed off about this.

 

I love how these "Our drafts suck" threads always mention the great players we passed over. However, most other teams passed over the same guys, and that's because the majority of scouts also underestimated them.

In other words, it's not that we're sooooooooooo bad we can't even make these obvious picks.

[Edit: D'OH! Just saw that Jeff made this same point.]

 

How much of it is bad drafting and how much of it is not letting any of our players play and see what they are made of on the NBA level. I think we have a problem on both parts.

Even if we draft some of those players we mention in the later rounds, do you think they would have been groomed and developed here. Would they be really given a chance to try and show what they can do with regular playing time?

 

How do you know we have a lack of talent. We haven't seen any of them with significant minutes. You can say that while in Houston that Nachbar, Tyrone Lue sucked too. Can you say that now?

 

hey guys.... we can't live in the past thanks. lets hope we pick up someone this year that really contributes to our next season.

 

You left out Nachbar and Mobley -- two quality guys the Rockets *did* draft, and who other teams passed on. And I'm willing to bet that each of the teams that picked the players on your above list also had a few picks that didn't pan out. So you win some, you lose some. But it would take a much deeper analysis than a list of players we passed on to prove that the Rockets have sucked in the draft.

In the NBA Hindsight Draft, ANYONE can be a great GM.

 

Bring in Jerry West. GM
Bring in Rick Adleman. Coach

 

Exactly. The last 3 years we've had a lot of players rotate in and out of the team. Some of them flourishing in the other teams they landed in. Management needs to be in tune with coaching when deciding who to trade or draft.

 

Which team or teams in the NBA have had the most success in the Lotery?

Is there a team that has consistently drafted players that have gone on to be roll players, or made contributions in some way to the team?

Suns, Spurs, and Raptors are teams that have been mentioned as having done well in the draft.

Can someone look back at there draft history; lets see how well they have drafted over the last 10 or so years? Please correct me if I am wrong, but probably they drafted a few duds.

 

Hey Stack,
Suns and Spus are two teams that has a reputation of doing a good job of drafting players and developing players.

Do you think they just do a better job or evaluating talent, or grooming the players they draft, or some combination of both?

They also seem to do a very good job of signing quality players via free agency.

So do rockets do a poor job of evaluating talent, or grooming the players they draft and sign.

Is this a reflection of the coaching staff, the front office, or a communication issue between the two?

 

SA -
Drafted Manu
Drafted Tony Parker.
Signed Robert Horry
The rest is irrelevant. Championship contenders every year.

Phoenix -
Traded crap to Boston for Joe Johnson.
Traded Joe Johnson for Boris Diaw and Atlanta's 1st round pick (potentially really high pick the Rockets would kill for)
Drafted Leonardo Barbosa
Signed Raja Bell
Signed Steve Nash

Rockets -
Drafted Luther Head
Signed Eric Piatkowski
Traded Eric Piatkowski
Signed Stromile Swift
Traded Stromile Swift
Drafted Rudy Gay
Traded Rudy Gay for Shane Battier
Signed Bonzi Wells - MIA
Drafted V-Span - MIA