reflections
June 28th, 2008 2008 NBA Draft Grades: Houston Rockets


By: Dustin Chapman

Transactions

  • Selected Nicolas Batum 25th overall and traded his rights to Portland for the rights to Darrell Arthur (27th overall) and Joey Dorsey (33rd overall).
  • Traded the rights to forward Darrell Arthur to Memphis for the rights to Donte Greene (28th overall) and a future second round draft pick.
  • Selected Maarty Leunen 54th overall.

After an interesting sequence of trades, the Rockets did a great job of getting great value with each pick. First and foremost, Donte Greene fell from projected lottery pick status, and is well-worth the risk near the end of the first round. He’s got a lot to learn and a lot of growing up to do, but his size and upside is undeniable. Houston will be able to bring him along slowly, where he’ll get outstanding tutelage on both ends of the floor from Tracy McGrady, Shane Battier, and head coach Rick Adelman.

Houston has been a team that has also lacked a reliable defensive presence off the bench up front. They’ve now gotten that in Joey Dorsey, who is perhaps Ben Wallace-light. Adding Dorsey to the mix allows Dikembe Mutombo to return without much burden, on account of Yao Ming’s shaky health.

Grade: B

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June 6th, 2008 Morey Looking to Deal

From The Houston Chronicle:

That one player isn’t going to fall to the Rockets when they pick 25th in the upcoming draft. Morey is confident, though, that the Rockets can land a rotation player in that spot. It just might not be next season’s rotation.

Don’t look for much help from the free-agent market, because re-signing Carl Landry won’t leave them much below the luxury tax level.

“We’re probably going to have to upgrade through trade,” Morey said, “as opposed to free agency.”

The Celtics got well in a hurry when Danny Ainge swung a seven-for-one deal to pry Kevin Garnett from Minnesota and packaged the No. 5 overall pick to Seattle for Ray Allen.

Just like that, the Celtics had two All-Stars to complement long-suffering Paul Pierce.

The Lakers, for their part, became instant contenders shortly before the trade deadline when the Memphis Grizzlies gave the gift of Pau Gasol.

Bryant can’t win a championship alone, but Gasol and Lamar Odom give him plenty of playmaking company.

“We’re really focused on being able to upgrade for next year’s playoffs,” Morey said. “Don’t judge the team on Oct. 1. We think we’ve got a lot of assets that a lot of teams want — a lot of ways to upgrade. Often the best opportunities to use those come at trade deadlines.”

It will be interesting to see what kind of players Morey and the gang will covet. Clearly, Houston needs an upgrade at the power forward position, as well as a stronger and more reliable bench.

An intriguing trade asset that they will have to dangle is Bobby Jackson’s approximate $6.1 million expiring contract, which could be packaged with young role players (such as Luther Head, Aaron Brooks, Chuck Hayes, etc.) and/or draft picks to appease opposing teams.

Outside of that, however, it’s tough to imagine many teams banging on the door for Houston’s spare parts. Morey may have to make a bold move in order to bring something of helpful value. Keep your eyes peeled.

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Posted By: Dustin Chapman

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