dasein (616 posts)  9/18/2012 3:21 PM

Just reading another post where someone reackoned that Royce White is going to emerge as the main man in Houston. Not sure there's good reason to be all that confident about any of them at this stage. We've got, in no particular order,

- White: heralded as an offensive savant from the 4, but McHale has publicaly questioned whether he can guard anyone in the NBA.

-  T.Jones: brings defensive versatility and athleticism with stat-stuffing potential. Can he keep his head in the game? The second coming of (good) Odom?

- Motejunas: Sweet shooting big man might struggle with NBA transition.

- Patrick Paterson: The veteren of the group is familiar with the Rockets coaching staff and has shown flashes in the past. Might have the inside track to the starting spot on opening night. 

- Marcus Morris....umm, is this guy even gonna sniff the floor?

so, who ya got?

mbuser (4333 posts)  9/18/2012 7:03 PM

My guess is that they all have a role, fairly matchup based, and it's tough for any one player to emerge. The pairings of Asik/White and Patterson/Jones seem the most complementary to me, so for now that's how I'm assuming it will shake out. I'm not drafting any before the final stages of a standard league, but I'd rank them Patterson, White, Jones, Motiejunas, Morris.

HYEPWRD (13 posts)  9/18/2012 9:24 PM

I disagree...Defense usually wins position battles. White & Motejunas are liabilites defensively. Furthermore, it seems that white needs the ball to make plays for others. The unfortunate problem with that is they just paid J Lin a whole lotta money to have the ball in his hands. That fact negates all of whites upside. Between Patterson and Jones---if we say their defense is similar---Give me the guy with more offensive firepower. Jones can hit 3's...play in and out and plays under control. I hate predicting any rookie will win a position battle outright---but I would think its Jones's job to lose.

# 26105 (3 posts)  9/19/2012 8:13 AM

Any thoughts on Chandler Parsons as a late round 3s/stls pick? 

thebarnes (37 posts)  9/19/2012 9:43 PM

The only person I would go near in Houston is Jeremy LIn - at any point in any draft. In prior years maybe late round fliers would come into it but the draft for this season is deep so you ahve more chance on otehr fliers then anyone else in houston.

I think your wasting your draft pick on any Rocket other than Lin and can likely grab some fo these guys on FA waivers when positions emerge - if that happens at any point.

mbuser (4333 posts)  9/20/2012 10:55 AM

Kevin Martin is falling far enough to be considered in very good risk/reward territory

Asik will be excellent in any situation where you can downplay his hit on FT%

Parsons is one of my favored late picks, no reason to not expect him to be solid once again

Delfino should also get regular run at backup SG/SF

But yes, the minutes behind Asik at FC are up in the air

thebarnes (37 posts)  9/20/2012 9:35 PM

Buser - Im interested where you think you’re going to pick those guys up - parsons, martin, asik?

because to my point this years draft seems very deep and I see players just as good if not better than those guys at the time they are going who dont have any unknowns as far as rotation etc. Why take a risk when you can get the same from someone else and dont have to take risk?

Again in other drafts in prior years sure, but i dont see it in this one and that’s why Im not into any of the rockets very much. Difference in opinion, but I'm interested why you would take these rockets over others at that point in the draft etc. cos I dont see the value.

PS - Terrence Jones is being groomed for SF and he’s very talented right now. McHale has him shooting jumpers and 3s every day. He is in the mix for minutes at the 3 along with parson and delfino and at least some time for royce white there since McHale has big questions about him defending 4s at his size.

mbuser (4333 posts)  9/26/2012 12:05 PM

Something of a throw-away line in this piece from a Rockets beat writer; "Patterson is likely to be the starting power forward." We'll see how this shakes out early in camp.

@thebarnes - Kevin Martin's Y! rank is 75, which is good for me, particularly if you are looking for a FT% boost. He was 85th in per-game last season in a relative disaster of a season. Parsons is a last-rounder, and Asik moves up or down from pick 125ish based on what a terrible FT% does for you.

dcdoorknob (206 posts)  9/26/2012 3:53 PM

I actually read a report that claimed Asik had been working hard and shooting free throws at over 70% this offseason,

Obviously take that with a pretty enourmous grain of salt but I do think he's a hard worker and could see it at least improving to 55-60%, possibly.

I don't really expect to own any PF/Cs on Houston's roster other than possibly Asik this year though.

JT Marlin (54 posts)  9/26/2012 5:08 PM

Yeah, I like taking a chance on Kevin Martin at his current ADP.  His per game rankings the last 5 seasons before last season's debacle - 22, 56, 33, 21, 25.  As Buser mentioned, he could be a huge boost to FT% and he's a big plus in PTS & 3PM.  He has a $12.9M expiring deal and could definitely be traded but maybe HOU holds on to him to clear up cap space for future flexibility.  He's one of the few proven scorers that this team has and, at 29, he will be playing for one last major contract.  I'd be surprised if he doesn't play nice with McHale so that he'll get his minutes and pad his stats for free agency.  There's a lot of upside at his current ADP.