With the 26th pick being added to our 17th and 3rd picks recently, that's a lot to sort out on draft night. My personal feeling is that you do the work ahead of time and you develop a big board so you don't get caught unprepared during the draft. As the picks get drafted, they get erased from your big board until you have your pick sitting there. This means that your big board has to include at least 26 players to be 100% effective on draft night. The picks are ranked in the order in which you'd draft them for us. So maybe a Johnny Davis slips way down for you because we've already got Jalen Green sewing up the SG position and you doubt Johnny's ability to play elsewhere. Maybe a shot blocking center vaults up your board because of fit? Anyway, it's your board. Well, I'm sure a lot of you have done your homework and a few of you might be willing to post yours. I certainly will and I'll parse through yours, maybe ask some questions about certain choices. You're certainly welcome to ask or comment about mine. (I'll post my big board below.)
Don Grahamleone's Rockets Big Board Paolo Banchero Jaden Ivey Chet Holmgren Jabari Smith Shaedon Sharpe Mark Williams Dyson Daniels Jalen Williams Bennedict Mathurin Jeremy Sochan Ousmane Dieng Keegan Murray Jalen Duren Tari Eason Jaden Hardy AJ Griffin Walker Kessler EJ Liddell Josh Minnot Marjon Beauchamp TYty Washington Edit in: Procida Malaki Branham Max Christie Wendel Moore Dalen Terry Kendall Brown Ochai Agbaji Jake Laravia At 3 you draft the best player available. At 17 I might reach, but fit still matters there. At 26 I'm drafting for need and fit. Players appear most valuable when the franchise values them with playing time so I go fit the later the draft goes in the first round. In the second round I just try to grab a player other teams missed or one of these talented long shots that hasn't 'gotten it' yet. Edit: @ThatBoyNick has me thinking Procida should be between Tyty Washington and Malaki Branham.
i hope in the coming season rockets could give jalen green the opportunity to develop into a combo guard, his ball handling as well as court vision obviously better than KPJ. if KPJ not happy with that, let him go (i dun't think KPJ is gonna feel happy with a decision on letting him back to 3, bc he always deems himself as the next JH, or at least front office had given him the delusion, promised him). if we've got a plan to forge jalen as a pg, i think we can use the #17 pick to lock on malaki branham whose shooting ability is incredible, he is a full-fledged sg, his athleticism, big hands, long arm give him a great cushion to develop into a prolific scorer. therefore, my 'big board' goes like Jabari Smith Paolo Banchero #3 Chet Holmgren Jaden Ivey ------------------------- #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 Jeremy Sochan #12 #13 #14 Tari Eason #15 #16 #17 Malaki Branham (considering focusing on talents bigger than positions, the other two kids im coveting, are Jeremy Sochan and Tari Eason.)
I don't think Silas is the coach for this young team. He doesn't hold them accountable defensively and their offensive flow or structure is just as bad. I don't like the iso, 1 v 1 they play. If they don't show marked improvement, he needs to go. They need a system to incorporate the team, not just Green and KPJ.
Top Pick Jabari Smith Jaden Ivey Chet Target Moving Up Ivey Keegan Murray Mathurin Mark Williams Target for #17 (if available) Tari Eason E J Liddell Sochan Jalen Williams (added lately per discussion with CF member) Target at #26 (if available or move back) Kendall Brown Terry Dalen Patrick Baldwin (only if team doctors deem him not a long term issue at ankles) Jovic (internation stash) David Roddy Christian Koloko Moussa Diabate
Chet Jabari Paolo Ivey Murray Daniels Sharpe Mathurin Sochan Griffen Mark Williams Duren Eason J Williams (Santa Clara) EJ Lidell TyTy Johnny Davis Branham Agbaji Deing Jovic Kendall Brown Wesley Terry Hardy Beauchamp Braun
Assuming we take Banchero at 3 and aim for one more as-high-as-we-can-draft fit-type player for our current roster: 1. Jeremy Sochan 2. AJ Griffin 3. Tari Eason 4. Dyson Daniels 5. Ousmane Dieng 6. Jalen Duren 7. Dalen Terry 8. Malakhi Branham 9. Jalen Williams 10. Marjon Beauchamp 11. Mark Williams This year's draft doesn't have the on-ball prowess of last year's draft, but strangely enough it feels deeper in that even-scarcer NBA commodity of wing talent offering some smattering of the 3, the D, or the court vision that are highly coveted in today's positionless, switch-everything game. For that reason I'm not sold on either Duren or Williams being picked in the lottery. What is either guy going to do come playoff time? The only remaining bigs that can stay on the court have elite lateral quickness like Timelord, ball movement abilities like Bam, or outside shooting like Jaren Jackson. Rudy Gobert is a living dinosaur in this context. Golden State just showed you the template: you accumulate wings, stash wings on your bench and in your G-league, and keep drafting wings whether they work out or not. Moody and Kuminga are just sitting there being developed like some 2010-2015 Spurs System prospect, ready to rotate in when it's their turn.
Meh, why not. I have a lazy morning. Houston77's Big Board 1. Chet Holmgren 2. Jabari Smith 3. Paolo Banchero 4. Jaden Ivey 5. Keegan Murray 6. Shaedon Sharpe 7. Dyson Daniels 8. AJ Griffin 9. Bennedict Mathurin 10. Johnny Davis 11. Jeremy Sochan 12. Mark Williams 13. Tari Eason 14. Ousmane Dieng 15. Jalen Duren 16. TyTy Washington 17. EJ Liddell 18. Kendall Brown 19. Ousmane Dieng 20. Nikola Jovic 21. Blake Wesley 22. MarJon Beauchamp 23. Jake LaRavia 24. Dalen Terry 25. Kennedy Chandler 26. Walker Kessler
I only have strong feelings about the top players. My rankings are: 1) Paolo Banchero 2) Jabari Smith 3) Jaden Ivey 4) Chet Holmgren On draft night, I think we will see a shocker with Banchero first overall followed by Ivey, leaving the Rockets with the choice of Jabari/Chet.
Give me Banchero and package anything we can for another lottery pick. Banchero + Daniels/Williams and I am a VERY happy man.
At 3 I would probably take Jaden Ivey if Holmgren and Smith are gone 1 and 2. However I am good with the Rockets taking Banchero as well. Both are underrated prospects. I have some defensive concerns with Banchero as far as foot speed is concerned, especially next to the Big Turk but there are also a lot of positives about Banchero as a player and athlete. At 17 I would ideally like a wing like Eason or Sochan. Eason is going to be ready to contribute early on and he has the ability to play some positionless basketball because of his size and skill set. Sochan is not very well developed offensively but he has extreme upside as a lock down defender. Sochan and Dieng I think will be gone by 17 because they have clear upside. I expect that Eason will be gone as well, but he may still be on the board because he doesn't have a single elite skill but is good at a lot of things. If Eason is there, I take him. Assuming the wings I want are gone, I take best available player and take Ty Ty Washington. The Rockets are not solidly set at point guard long term with Porter. He may end up as the solution but it is combustible. Ty Ty Washington was in a bad situation at KU. He is a point guard playing next to a lesser talented point guard senior and surrounded with bad shooters. I expect Ty Ty Washington to be one of the most under rated and surprising players in this draft. He has all the attributes to be a long term solid and possibly even an all star type player. At 26 I listen to offers for a future pick, and if I cannot get that, I see who has fallen. Someone like Kendall Brown or Jovic may fall and I take a chance on them. At the end of the day, if I end up with: Banchero/Eason/future #1 or Banchero/Washington/Jovic or Brown I am quite happy. Eason and Washington are both mid lottery talents IMO. If I was told before the season started that the Rockets would get Banchero/Washington I would have asked how that was remotely possible.
A+ draft for me if we can walk away with: #3 Paolo Banchero #17 Tari Eason #26 Dalen Terry or Marjon Beauchamp
Jalen Williams is the 2nd best pg in this draft after Dyson Daniels imo and not Tyty Washington. You can even argue Dalen Terry is better than Tyty as well.
#3: Any of the Big 3 that falls to us. Trade up targets: 1 - Dyson Daniels: Really like this kid's versatility, defense, and size. Would be a good hedge if KPJ falters or as SF. 2 - Jeremy Sochan: See above--defensive versatility, smart and good size. Needs work on offense. Stay put at #17 and take best of who falls... - Tari Eason, Mark Williams, Jalen Duren, Ousmane Dieng, Dalen Terry, Jalen Williams or Christian Braun Trade #26: Trade for 2023 or 2024 pick or select a more developmental prospect like Nikola Jovic, Kendall Brown, Josh Minott, Kennedy Chandler (not really developmental, but I like him), Christian Koloko or Caleb Houstan.
Paolo Banchero Jaden Ivey Chet Holmgren Benedict Mathurin Jabari Smith Jalen Duren Keegan Murray Jeremy Sochan Dyson Daniels Tari Eason TyTy Washington Ousmane Dieng Mark Williams AJ Griffin Haven't watched much of anyone else. I think a draft haul of Banchero/Eason/Tyty is about as enticing as it gets for me.
