Houston sitting in on workouts for pick #3

[Eralp]

you gotta be kidding.

[skbucks1985]

Safi,
Don't rule out trading up. Morey has said he'd do so,but other teams haven't made their price known yet. It could be price is too high,or overactive rumors,but still he was indicating he would if he could. Many of the picks in the 8-20 range are probably in play.
Even if the Rockets can't move up,it doesn't hurt to get a first hand look at players,both for competitive reasons as well as future trade/FA signings.
Now if some of the guys Minn invites are thought to be mid-round picks,my Hmmm meter rises.

I defintiely agree that trading up is a possibility. But I think a lot of the posters are seeing a story where I don't see one. Minnesota has two early second rounders and we have a late 1st. There's going to be a lot of overlap in the players both sides are looking at for these spots.

Basically, I think Morey and co. are going to be paying a lot more attention to the Robin Lopez's of this workout rather than the Brook Lopez's.

[tisbee]

Safi,
Looks like we're in agreement. If Morey can move up he will,but he'll not give away the farm to do so. I like that Morey is honest about the general and says nothing about the specific.(His trades and draft picks come as suprises,yet he talks about what the team really needs.)
And based on the scouting reports I've read,I would really like the Rockets to draft Robin Lopez. Don't watch college ball,so my opinion is based on view of others,but Robin was supposed to have improved as season went on-a good sign-and is said to be more athletic than his bro. I think he's the kind of player Sikma could really work w/ and develope into a solid third big who can handle the middle for a while if Yao goes down.
One thing we can say about Morey,he has drafted well-and he's tried to trade for excellent players.
BTW,don't the Spurs look really bad if Splitter stays in Europe. That was part of justification for dumping Scola,they had Splitter coming over. Oops!

[DraftBoy10]

We're going to trade down to #31 + #34 for #25

[A.J.]

We're going to trade down to #31 + #34 for #25

I thought Morey said we will trade up?

[yaomac11-1]

How about trading Hayes, Head, Novak, and Francis to move up to #3???Then we draft bayless to be our PG of the future. Do you think they would take this deal?

[skbucks1985]

How about trading Hayes, Head, Novak, and Francis to move up to #3???Then we draft bayless to be our PG of the future. Do you think they would take this deal?

I don't mean this to be rude, but that is possibly the worst trade idea I have ever seen. You think Minnesota would trade the number 3 pick for a backup PF, a one-dimensional shooter, an undersized SG and a broken down PG.

[jove9]

Well, we ARE talking about McHale here. Nothing would shock me.

But to answer your question, no reasonably intelligent GM would make that trade.

[Ribalding]

This is a business decision, pure and simple.

Each team has picks near the bottom 1st/top 2nd round.

This way they don't have to each pay to see the same guys. Saves money on bringing them in, putting them in hotels, feeding them, pacifiers for their kids, etc.

Plus McHale's a moron. And you never know....

[ROXTXIA]

I wouldn't mind losing TMac and getting the #3 and whatever else (obviously other players would be in the mix), but if TMac were traded, it would be (as was mentioned) to a 3rd team; the players/picks from THAT team would find their way to the Wolves.

[yaomac11-1]

-= original quote snipped =-



I don't mean this to be rude, but that is possibly the worst trade idea I have ever seen. You think Minnesota would trade the number 3 pick for a backup PF, a one-dimensional shooter, an undersized SG and a broken down PG.

it's all good, i never thought the idea to be that great in the 1st place.

[King Roosk]

We're too deep into the Yao-Mcgrady project to trade one of them away at this point. Adelman really worked wonders with this team, now we're just a couple of pieces away. If Morey can find us those pieces without giving up much of our talent, then I think that'd be best for our franchise.

[shrink]

A few notes on this thread, and maybe a piece of news that you don't know:

1. There have been many local newsites that have leaked that McHale already has a deal in place to trade the #31 and #34 to get into the 1st round. HOU has some sensitivity to the lux, and could stash the two top second round prospects in Europe without adding to their salary or to their roster size. Trade board speculation thought it might be you guys.

2. You've got to get off McHale's back about being a bad trader -- the facts lately just don't support that. In his last four trades, he's dealt Blount, Hassell, Ricky Davis, Mike James, and got back deals that were either expiring, or expiring now, AND a 1st round pick?!? MIN's financial future just turned on a dime, and they only have one bad contract now. In fact, they have $23 mil coming off the books next summer to get a max deal free agent, or they could trade their $13 mil in expirings this season. Some people knocked the Garnett trade at the time, but Al Jefferson was even better than MIN hoped, and his numbers were KG-like (#11 in the NBA in Pts, #4 in RB, #13 in Blks). He also got a $12 mil expiring, and two first round picks, and Gomes was pretty nice too. Considering how expensive KG is, that's a pretty good haul, and both MIN and BOS are happy with the deal. The "Can you believe how stupid McHale is?" line is popular but ill-informed.

3. I understand that you love McGrady, and who wouldn't? But keep in mind that next year he is the highest paid player in the NBA, and I don't think even his most ardent fans would say he's the best player in the NBA. Guys like LeBron and Dwight Howard get paid almost half as much as T-Mac. This salary affects his trade value, and I don't think TMac could pull the #3. I suspect your front office's attendance watching the top prospects in this years draft is a chance to use the corporate expense account. Gaining knowledge is never a bad thing, but I don't think it augers any high-level trade, as other posters have said.

[moofs]

Minn is bringing in 7-8 players. So Hou gets an up close look at players that might be available down to pick 10 or so. Morey has said he's looking at moving up,so this way he gets a free look at players who might be available.
Do not forget it's often who you know,not what you know. McHale is former Celt and Morey came from Celt's Organization. They've made 2-TWO-trades together. There's a relationship there that both GMs are wisely using. Hou is also letting a Minn rep sit in on it's workout,giving Minn a free look at some of the players who might be available for their second rd pick. I wouldn't be too suprised if 3-4 of the players Minn asks in are guys Hou asked for.
The McGrady trade talk is bogus. There are only two sure-thing players in this draft and the Rockets aren't trading McGrady for anything less than a sure thing. After the Jazz Series the owner talked about building around Yao AND T-Mac and Morey has been talking about how they need to add players to complement what McGrady does. The only way the Rockets trade McGrady is if T-Mac asks out,or Yao demands it. And if T-Mac asks out,it's to a team he thinks is closer than the Rockets.

According to my sig, that's guaranteed to happen

A few notes on this thread, and maybe a piece of news that you don't know:

1. There have been many local newsites that have leaked that McHale already has a deal in place to trade the #31 and #34 to get into the 1st round. HOU has some sensitivity to the lux, and could stash the two top second round prospects in Europe without adding to their salary or to their roster size. Trade board speculation thought it might be you guys.

2. You've got to get off McHale's back about being a bad trader -- the facts lately just don't support that. In his last four trades, he's dealt Blount, Hassell, Ricky Davis, Mike James, and got back deals that were either expiring, or expiring now, AND a 1st round pick?!? MIN's financial future just turned on a dime, and they only have one bad contract now. In fact, they have $23 mil coming off the books next summer to get a max deal free agent, or they could trade their $13 mil in expirings this season. Some people knocked the Garnett trade at the time, but Al Jefferson was even better than MIN hoped, and his numbers were KG-like (#11 in the NBA in Pts, #4 in RB, #13 in Blks). He also got a $12 mil expiring, and two first round picks, and Gomes was pretty nice too. Considering how expensive KG is, that's a pretty good haul, and both MIN and BOS are happy with the deal. The "Can you believe how stupid McHale is?" line is popular but ill-informed.

3. I understand that you love McGrady, and who wouldn't? But keep in mind that next year he is the highest paid player in the NBA, and I don't think even his most ardent fans would say he's the best player in the NBA. Guys like LeBron and Dwight Howard get paid almost half as much as T-Mac. This salary affects his trade value, and I don't think TMac could pull the #3. I suspect your front office's attendance watching the top prospects in this years draft is a chance to use the corporate expense account. Gaining knowledge is never a bad thing, but I don't think it augers any high-level trade, as other posters have said.

Good post, and agreed. McHale has made some bad deals in the past, and there's some extensive logging on how a lot of his deals have worked out, but he's not as bad as is claimed a lot of the time, he's just not that good (and has also had some bad luck). Offhand, he's in about the same class as our last GM.

[tisbee]

One more reason T-Mac will not be traded-sorry Iggy-but in recent interview Morey said the Rockets have shown they can win w/Yao and McGrady out and then he went on to say McGrady has shown he can "lead" Rockets to 55-60 wins EVEN WITH YAO OUT. He then went on to say team needed help for Playoffs.
From that we can pretty much believe Morey is building team around McGrady,w/Yao to carry load for the 12-15 games T-Mac will miss and then looking at who the likely competition is in Feb and adding a counter then.
Shrink,
While the 2 Seconds for Hou First is certainly plausible,the problem is Rockets desperately need some depth at the SG/SF and need to start grooming a back-up C. It is far more likely Morey will use the pick as part of trade package to get a SG/SF or move up. I think the #32 Seattle pick is certainly for sale-if not their #24-and if Hou needed to,they could buy the Seattle pick.
Now I could see the exchange as being part of a trade to help get some cap room and roster space. If Hou were to trade for another First w/out using their own,I could easily see something like Francis,Novak,cash to cover Francis' buyout,the #25 for Doleac and the two Seconds.