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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