NBA Draft: Are the Rockets really after Dunleavy? by Chad Ford Send an Email to Chad Ford Also Below: Bulls sitting pretty at No. 2 | Warriors in familiar territory Inside the NBA Draft: Jay or Yao for No. 1? NBA playoffs: Webber must lead the Kings' takeover NBA Draft Lottery conspiracy theories took a huge hit Sunday when neither the Knicks, Wizards nor Jerry West's Grizzlies managed to land the No. 1 pick in this year's draft. But for those of you who believe the NBA is somehow behind the growing disparity of the Western Conference haves and the Eastern Conference have nots -- start your engines. The Rockets, a team that would have seriously challenged for a playoff spot this season were in not for serious injuries to several key players, just hit the jackpot. Literally. Beating the odds, the Rockets had only an 8.9 percent chance of winning the lottery. Houston became the 12th team in a row to win the NBA lottery without having to endure the league's worst record. The Rockets aren't really rebuilding. This season was a bit of an aberration. They more closely resemble the 1997 Spurs, who took the No. 1 pick after a slew of injuries demoted them from playoff contenders to lottery team. The Spurs selected Tim Duncan and two years later took home the NBA Championship. This year, there's no Duncan. And the Rockets are still a few pieces away from being a championship contender. They have no post game to speak of. Two of their starters, Glen Rice and Mo Taylor, are coming off season-ending injuries. To make things more dicey, several league sources claim that Taylor gained an enormous amount of weight in the offseason, making his rehab that much tougher. Add to that All-Star point guard Steve Francis's reoccurring migraine headaches and insecurity complex and . . . it won't be as easy as adding one more piece to the puzzle.. Just moments after the team won the lottery, Francis launched a warning shot across the Rockets' bow. When asked who he thought the Rockets should take with the No. 1 pick, Francis made it clear that Duke's Jay Williams wasn't welcome. "I'm definitely happy I'm not a GM right now," Francis said. "There's so many ways we can go. Hopefully, we will go the right direction and get a player that can help us immediately. We won't be looking for a point guard. Anything else, I don't know." Remember Francis's reaction in 1999 to playing in the backcourt with Mike Bibby in Vancouver? The Rockets better take Francis seriously. He's sensitive as it is. With a contract extension due this fall, the Rockets can't afford to have the Franchise grumbling. A source close to Francis told Insider Sunday night that he definitely doesn't want to be moved to shooting guard to accommodate Williams in the Rockets' already crowded backcourt. What about Williams moving to shooting guard? Some scouts feel he's better suited there anyway? Francis is vehemently opposed to the Rockets pushing out Cuttino Mobley. So what will the Rockets do? GM Carroll Dawson told the Houston Chronicle that the interest in the Rockets' pick is high around the league. Knicks GM Scott Layden told the New York Post that he would attempt to swing a trade with the Rockets for the No. 1 pick. Grizzlies president Jerry West said he wouldn't mind trading positions either. And the Warriors? They'll be dangling all kinds of carrots for the right to grab ahold of Williams. Here's five options the Rockets will consider going into the draft. 1. Draft Yao Ming Rockets center Kelvin Cato is making about $6,965,000 more than he should be next season. Kevin Willis is gone and Jason Collier has bust written all over him. Yao might not be the next Bill Walton or the even the next Rik Smits. But, he can run the floor, block shots and pull his defender away from the basket. Coach Rudy Tomjanovich loves big men who can shoot from the perimeter (hence the Collier pick). The Rockets have the eight largest Asian-American population in the U.S., a coach who understands the international game and the ability to compete right away. In other words, it isn't a bad fit from Yao's perspective. The Rockets are also in the best position to take the risk on Yao. If, for whatever reason, he can't figure out how to get out of China, the franchise isn't ruined. The Rockets already have the talent to compete for a playoff spot. This pick is gravy, so why not roll the dice and hope for something big? If Yao pans out, the Rockets become very, very dangerous. 2. Draft Jay Williams A backcourt of Francis and Williams would be unstoppable. No, Francis might not like it, but Williams is a much surer thing than Yao. Both players have the ability to swing between the one and two and both are smart enough to make it work. Mobley could either be a super sub or trade bait for a more established big man. Of course, that's not the only scenario if the Rockets were to take the artist formerly known as Jason Williams. Wouldn't it be ironic if Francis's lottery day luck got him a one-way out of Houston? Inconceivable? Almost. But it wouldn't be unprecedented. If the Rockets took Williams, Francis has enough value in the league to land them a top pick and another All-Star. 3. Draft Mike Dunleavy The Rockets were one of only two teams that would seriously consider taking Dunleavy No. 1. The other was Memphis. Dunleavy would give them a sweet shooting small forward to replace Glen Rice when he stubs his toe mid way through training camp. The Rockets' brass loves Dunleavy and would've taken him in a heartbeat had he been available at No. 5. If they decide that Yao's too risky and Williams will cause too many chemistry issues, Dunleavy could be the guy. Which leads us to No. 4 . . . 4. Trade down There will be plenty of teams trying to leap frog the Bulls for the right to draft either Williams or Yao. The most obvious team is the Warriors sitting at No. 3. They love Williams and have plenty of players they'd be more than happy to pawn off on Houston. The Rockets have a few real bad contracts their trying to dump as well. What about the No. 1 and Mo Taylor for the No. 3 and Antawn Jamison? That's a terrible deal for the Warriors so you know they're interested. Then, the Rockets could select Dunleavy and start challenging the Mavs. More plausibly, the Rockets could probably send the No. 1 and Kelvin Cato for the No. 3 and Erick Dampier. The Knicks have already said they'll make an offer and the N.Y. Post is reporting into today's editions that they may be willing to swap Latrell Sprewell and the No. 7 pick for Glen Rice and the No. 1. If the Rockets trade down to No. 7 they could take a chance on three other players they like -- Stanford's Curtis Borchardt, UConn's Caron Butler and 19-year-old Nikoloz Tskitishvili. And don't count out the Grizzlies. They covet Dunleavy. If they feel he'll be gone by the time they draft, they have the expendable talent to move up. 5. Trade out of the draft The team would like to compete for the playoffs this season. Yao and Dunleavy can't really help them there. They need a more seasoned low-post presence or a hot shooting small forward to take them to the next level. The Mavs, T-Wolves and Sonics don't have a draft pick, but all covet a player at the top of the draft. Would the Mavs do a sign-and-trade that would send Raef LaFrentz to Houston in return for the No. 1 and say, Cato? Would the T-Wolves send along scoring machine Wally Szczerbiak for the right to draft Williams? Terrell Brandon already has one foot in the grave and Williams is the perfect player to re-energize the franchise. Would the Sonics consider a sign-and-trade that would send Rashard Lewis to Houston in return for the No. 1 pick and Taylor? All three scenarios were talked about by several different league sources after the lottery went down. Houston, you're on the clock . . .
There are so many possibilities. Everyone wants it. It feels so good. One deal that really stuck out for me, is Mo Taylor and the #1 for Lewis? But, I'd like to switch to: Rice, and the #1 for Lewis and a re-signed Jerome James. Odom and Kandi. Duncan? KG? Lafrentz deal was bad. Jamison deal is REALLY bad. We don't want a player of Jamison's calibre making the MAX. What if we could send Rice to Memphis? So many possibilities. But not Jamison. He's not a SF, nor is he a PF in the West.
Maybe youre right about Jamison...I'm just so excited that this may be our ticket to get rid of Mo T...
NJRocket, That's the same reason I want to trade the pick. I'm hoping we package it with RIce, Taylor or Cato and the #1 pick for someone who's playing up to their contract, or isn't coming off an injury and needs time to recover. Like Duncan? I love this, I'll say it again: KT,#15 for Milwaukee's #13 Pick Ming 1st, Stoudamire 13th. Trade them with at least one of our big contracts (exclude Mobley, Francis and Eddie) to San Antonio for Duncan. In exchange for Duncan, they get a Ming/Stoudamire frontcourt. How perfect is THAT?
Why trade for lewis when he will be more than ready to come over now ... perhaps for a small paycut??
The Spurs will NEVER trade Duncan unless he flat out tells them he's leaving or demands a trade. I haven't heard either. Personally, I'm weary of Ming but I'd love to have him. I'm afraid he's too big of a risk because you never know if the Chinese government (uh, control-freak quasi Nazis) will even let him over here. On top of that, if you're a Rocket, how would you like to have some communist spy hiding mini-cameras in the locker room staring at your jock after every game while they keep an eye on Ming. I think the Rockets best option right now is to trade the pick. They need front court help, BIG TIME. And the draft doesn't have enough solid front court bangers to make a difference.
just about every trade he mentioned seemed incomplete to me. Szcerbiak for the #1 pick? LaFrentz for the #1 pick? The #1 pick AND Taylor for Lewis? Those are the most ridiculous "scenarios" I've ever heard.
I think he was just pointing out that the Rox have a boatload of options and that the trade possibilities are endless if other teams are coveting Yao and Williams
I would also accept this one with another pick or filler from GS. The Jamison deal is a lot sweeter though.
Pardon my ignorance about the salary cap, but my question is this: Regardless of player's talent (and value thereof), won't we still be over the cap regardless of whether or not we get rid of one of Cato, Taylor or Rice? If we could get rid of two, maybe that would help, but why get rid of one when, overpaid as they may be, it won't help us sign anyone else and they still have enough talent to be useful in some manner (be it off the bench or starting)? I mean, why trade not just tell NY we'll give them Collier and Morris (or something like that) plus the number 1 for their #7 and Sprewell - is it only because the salaries don't match otherwise - or something like that and keep players like Taylor/Cato (you can always use another bigman)? Of course, I'm not Les Alexander (who might be more interested in the overall payroll than I )
Here's a thought...if we end up taking Yao, I wonder if it would make sense to bring in Kareem as an assistant coach (hell even Dream or Ewing for that matter) and have him work one on one with Yao to prepare him for the NBA game.
Good to see that Insider realize that this is already a very talented team. I have been trying to get folks to understand that we are not desperate folks and do not need to restrict ourselves to only players who can make an impact right now. This team has a tradition of having big centers (Moses, Elvin, Akeem, Ralph). In fact the only the Lakers probably have a richer tradition with big centers. Yao Ming is as great a prospect to continue that as any. I am with Blinebury on this one. We went in needing a center and a Sf and that is right on our door step. Do not try to get cute, CD. And as CHad said we can afford to take the risk.
I'm a long time lurker on this BBS and I don't put my $.02 in very often as you can see by my post count but I've got to ring in on this one. Trading the No. 1 and Mo Taylor for the No. 3 and Antawn Jamison sounds like the best deal (I've heard so far) and here are my reasons why. 1. Moving Taylor clears up the log jam we have at the 4 and moves EG into the starting lineup (which is vital to his, and the teams improvement) with KT and AJ backing him up. 2. Jamison is a proven scorer who provides a scoring threat at the 3 with the versitilty to play the 2 and 4 on occasion. We haven't had a decent 3 since the Horry and Mario era. 3. We could then take the best player available (another topic all together) with only 2 players gone from the draft board. The 3rd pick is still better than we were expecting and we have added a proven player who helps right now. We still have problems at the 5 but that is another discussion. I don't know if GS would go for this trade but if they would I'd do it today. I love all the possiblities and look forward to the rockets getting back into the playoffs next year. I've been a loyal fan since 1976 and I want more banners hanging from the rafters.
Common. You guys know we're going to use the pick to pry Bullard away from Charlotte. We saw what letting him go did to us. This pick is just a sign that we should use it to get back Bullard. Seriously, how does Cato and the #1 for Magloire and PJ Brown sound?
