Iko implies Smith was at the top of Houston's board...

We all know the magic changed their mind last minute there no reason to play mind games with the #1 pick, if Paolo was your guy let him know from the jump and work out the other two(Jabari/Chet) and if OKC/Houston want Paolo let them bid knowing that you're taking Paolo unless they giving you an offer that blows you away.

I just don't know how the media consider it a smart move that Paolo was a good surprising move? i guess to save face? If Paolo know he was going number 1 he would had not blow off the work out with the magic the last week of the draft and he would not have has surprise /disappointed face, and Jabari would not be pissed off seeing himself fall... The magic promise jabari he was their guy and backed up last minute.

 

Bullet dodged....because Banchero-Sengun would have sucked
badly defensively for the next 10 years.

30th in defense rarely wins championships

 

Chbomb!

 

Literally every single team took the full five minutes. The NBA planned for the event to take that full amount of time. Even if Stone took him immediately, Silver still wouldn't have announced it until the 5 minute mark so that it wouldn't interfere with their programming and commercial breaks. Silly take, bro.

 

It's nice to know Jabari was truly our guy and only reason why the rockets were happy with Paolo was because of how Jabari was blowing us off, and we didn't want to risk trading up for a player that didn't want to be here but because the magic passed on him and pissed him off, he is now happy to be here.

 

the end story was always going to be, 'we got the player we wanted all along.'

pretty much every GM always gets his man. they're like Mounties.

 

How would Orlando have known Jabari was top of our board though? Most likely they just changed their mind at the 11th hour, went with offense over defense.

 

I like the smith pick at 3 but he clearly did not seem happy even in the interview on tv he expected to be number 1 but I am not mad at him for being our pick I am actually happy he is ours i like his game smooth shooting touch and that defense he about to make the top 2 regret passing on him.

 

No shock there, all the media people who said the Rockets were leaky and bad at hiding their cards are bad poker players. The don't get the concept of grandstanding. Or playing along with the obvious.

Rockets were apparently getting Banchero because the other two were going to be gone. I suspect Banchero was their 3rd option behind Chet and Smith, so....they had every reason to embrace Bachero, roll out the red carpet, talk about how they were getting a steal and how impressed they were. Win win situation no matter what happened.

 

I think OKC will be happy now Magic is a TBD.

 

Why wouldnt Smith be at the top of the Rox board - he was at the top of most draft boards...

Jabari was #1 on my board... but id have been fine with Paolo...
but i wanted no part of Chet - thats an injury plagued career just waiting to happen...

I'd say Orlando was pretty stupid... rather than running their disinformation campaign regarding Jabari (personally, i think they changed their mind like the day before...). They should have been non committal on who they were taking... that way if either Rox or OKC fell in love with somebody - maybe they'll offer an asset to lock up their guy..."
Instead, they say Jabari... OKC says 'cool we want Chet' and Rox say 'cool - we're good with Paolo' - and no additional assets are garnered...

 

facts Apache…Paolo-Sengun was not a viable frontcourt for the future

 

Because Stone obviously leaked his board to them amirite?



The premise has a few holes.

 

I think Stone, like most folks, probably thought it was going to be Paolo at #3.

Then #1, Paolo and the Magic threw the curtain back for the big reveal. Paolo was like 'o dm rly?'.
Then #2, Chet was like obvs where he wanted to go.
Then #3, Jabari was steaming mad.

Magic tried to play smokescreens and only played Jabari and Paolo. What were the Rockets really about to trade?

Stone "OHH NOOO WHAT DO WE DO NOWWWW???..."

6'10" lockdown D and 42% 3 #1 prospect on most boards. Geez it must've just thrown the loop on a professional GM.

 

is it a requirement to write in rambling sentences and include things like bc lmfao on twitter bc lmfao af

 

Paolo was nothing more than the guy who was most likely to be at 3, and Chebari didn’t even bother with us throughout the pre-draft process

If we had the #1 or #2 overall pick, are we taking Paolo? I don’t think so

 

NBA Probsbly tells teams to take more time. They do have a draft show that is airing and need time for the talking heads.

 

i believe Paolo was #1 on our board, but that we legitimately had very similar grades on the top 3 prospects. I truly believe their strategy was just to wait and see who fell to them. Jabari solves so many problems, maybe he was #1 on their board but they obviously didn’t value him enough to pony up the capital it would take to trade up to #1 and secure him.

I’ve been impressed with Stone’s two drafts.

 

Wonder if Orlando is selling their fans on Banchero being a small forward?

Pushing Wagner and Ross to bench warmers. Lol