Rocket's Draft Brings Questions, Answers Provided
Jul 8, 2014 4:23:31 GMT
Walt Frazier and Bob McAdoo like this
Post by Charles Barkley on Jul 8, 2014 4:23:31 GMT
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets 2014 draft has come to a close, barring some sort of trade that would have them moving back into the 2nd round to potentially grab Giannis' big brother, Thanasis. In total, the Rockets made 8 selections and traded for an experienced veteran swingman in Rudy Gay, presumably to bridge the gap while their youngsters, Giannis and, the new Rocket, TJ Warren, develop. It was an important day for the Rockets, as they have began revitalizing the organization since Charles Barkley took the helm. It also was a day that left many Rockets' fans, and GMs throughout the league, puzzled and confused.
The Rockets traded their 2nd overall selection, Jabari Parker, to Utah for the 8th pick in the draft, Dion Waiters, and the Jazz 2015 1st. This decision brought on much controversy and sent ripples throughout the league. When asked why the Rockets just didn't take Parker at number two and not look back, Charles Barkley said, "(Parker) wasn't the right fit. We want athletic wings and bangers in the paint. And, Parker, to us, wasn't that type of player; he wasn't a Rockets type of guy. When you combine that with the fact that he showed up to our workout 10 pounds heavier than he was in season with Duke, huffing and puffing after the first run through and, what it seemed like, tanking the workout, we knew he wasn't our guy. We want guys who play hard and can play hard; we don't want guys that don't want to be here. And, if you're going to purposefully perform badly in workout to persuade us not to take you, we don't want you to begin with."
Barkley then went on to say, "You know, before the draft, we were hearing reports that he didn't want to play in Houston, that he didn't want to be a Rocket. So, when you pull a stunt like that, and act like a 12 year old, you don't get afforded the privilege to be a Rocket. So we traded him to his home land, Utah. I didn't feel like having to make sure all our Sunday games weren't at night anyways.
"I mean, we had other offers on the table, but we feel that Dion will be a premier scoring guard in this league some day, and maybe our boards didn't line up with everyone else's. Maybe we had different rankings, so we move down to 8 then to 10 and we get what we think is the best scoring wing in the draft in a guy like TJ, and, he wants to be here. He is grateful of the opportunity to play in the Association and be on a roster.
"We had tons of offers for the 2nd pick. We surely couldn't trade with Denver; other GMs grossly undervalued the pick then commented on the trade we made in a negative way. There were a couple other deals that came close to happening, but we are happy with the decision we made. We came out of the draft with the number 1 power forward on our board in Julius Randle and he fits a position we need most. We acquired 2 prolific scorers in Dion and Rudy and another in TJ. Jusuf Nurkic is a guy I can see being our center of the future, and, if nothing else, his dad can be my personal body guard. "
Talking about the 2nd round, Charles had this to say, "this is where we got the steals. I honestly felt like I was dreaming. I mean, I had Kenny pinch me a few times because these guys just kept falling in to our lap. Capela was our 3rd ranked PF and we got him at 36? There's not 35 guys who are better than him in this draft, there just isn't. And Inglis? Have you seen that kid? You know, they call my dude Eric "Mini-Lebron" well, Inglis isn't a mini LeBron, he IS LeBron. And if he can come anywhere close to his potential, we got a steal at 37. Micic might as well be named Manu, because that's who he is; he is a younger Manu Ginobli. He may not contribute right away to our team, but he will be in our future for years. Huestis is the old guy of our draft class but he is a lock down defender, reminds me a lot of that Iggy guy. And, I mean, Gentile has been playing pro ball since he was 17. And he lead the Italian league in scoring. So this guy can score and he can make me some spaghetti when I'm hungry.
"I feel really confident in my decisions I've made throughout the draft, really confident in the draft class, and I feel that these decisions and players will pay off in the future and make a lot of GMs around league wonder what they missed."
The Houston Rockets 2014 draft has come to a close, barring some sort of trade that would have them moving back into the 2nd round to potentially grab Giannis' big brother, Thanasis. In total, the Rockets made 8 selections and traded for an experienced veteran swingman in Rudy Gay, presumably to bridge the gap while their youngsters, Giannis and, the new Rocket, TJ Warren, develop. It was an important day for the Rockets, as they have began revitalizing the organization since Charles Barkley took the helm. It also was a day that left many Rockets' fans, and GMs throughout the league, puzzled and confused.
The Rockets traded their 2nd overall selection, Jabari Parker, to Utah for the 8th pick in the draft, Dion Waiters, and the Jazz 2015 1st. This decision brought on much controversy and sent ripples throughout the league. When asked why the Rockets just didn't take Parker at number two and not look back, Charles Barkley said, "(Parker) wasn't the right fit. We want athletic wings and bangers in the paint. And, Parker, to us, wasn't that type of player; he wasn't a Rockets type of guy. When you combine that with the fact that he showed up to our workout 10 pounds heavier than he was in season with Duke, huffing and puffing after the first run through and, what it seemed like, tanking the workout, we knew he wasn't our guy. We want guys who play hard and can play hard; we don't want guys that don't want to be here. And, if you're going to purposefully perform badly in workout to persuade us not to take you, we don't want you to begin with."
Barkley then went on to say, "You know, before the draft, we were hearing reports that he didn't want to play in Houston, that he didn't want to be a Rocket. So, when you pull a stunt like that, and act like a 12 year old, you don't get afforded the privilege to be a Rocket. So we traded him to his home land, Utah. I didn't feel like having to make sure all our Sunday games weren't at night anyways.
"I mean, we had other offers on the table, but we feel that Dion will be a premier scoring guard in this league some day, and maybe our boards didn't line up with everyone else's. Maybe we had different rankings, so we move down to 8 then to 10 and we get what we think is the best scoring wing in the draft in a guy like TJ, and, he wants to be here. He is grateful of the opportunity to play in the Association and be on a roster.
"We had tons of offers for the 2nd pick. We surely couldn't trade with Denver; other GMs grossly undervalued the pick then commented on the trade we made in a negative way. There were a couple other deals that came close to happening, but we are happy with the decision we made. We came out of the draft with the number 1 power forward on our board in Julius Randle and he fits a position we need most. We acquired 2 prolific scorers in Dion and Rudy and another in TJ. Jusuf Nurkic is a guy I can see being our center of the future, and, if nothing else, his dad can be my personal body guard. "
Talking about the 2nd round, Charles had this to say, "this is where we got the steals. I honestly felt like I was dreaming. I mean, I had Kenny pinch me a few times because these guys just kept falling in to our lap. Capela was our 3rd ranked PF and we got him at 36? There's not 35 guys who are better than him in this draft, there just isn't. And Inglis? Have you seen that kid? You know, they call my dude Eric "Mini-Lebron" well, Inglis isn't a mini LeBron, he IS LeBron. And if he can come anywhere close to his potential, we got a steal at 37. Micic might as well be named Manu, because that's who he is; he is a younger Manu Ginobli. He may not contribute right away to our team, but he will be in our future for years. Huestis is the old guy of our draft class but he is a lock down defender, reminds me a lot of that Iggy guy. And, I mean, Gentile has been playing pro ball since he was 17. And he lead the Italian league in scoring. So this guy can score and he can make me some spaghetti when I'm hungry.
"I feel really confident in my decisions I've made throughout the draft, really confident in the draft class, and I feel that these decisions and players will pay off in the future and make a lot of GMs around league wonder what they missed."