2009 Draft Question

The rumor is that the Rockets will try and buy their way into the draft though

Oh, the Blazers have five. Wanna buy one?

but now I person told me that we actually have the Memphis pick which I believe is 4th or 5th in the 2nd round.

Morey traded that to the Grizzlies in the Francis deal.

As UofTOrange points out, the Rockets might just buy their way into the draft. A lot of small-market teams just won’t be able to afford adding a draft pick’s salary this season, so many would accept cash simply to cover costs.

Hopefully this is true, so that maybe we can pick-up a back-up center for Deke, who will be retiring after this season.

I have no idea who’ll be available in this draft, and the general consensus is that everyone available after the first few picks just isn’t worth much.

We’ve actually got the rights to a few international centers, but most are pretty old (you may, for instance, remember Frederic Weis, the guy Vince Carter dunked over at the olympics that one time). The youngest is Sergei Lishouk, who currently plays in the Ukraine. And the Rockets might be able to address the issue in free agency pretty easily.

If Morey sees someone he likes, he’ll just buy a draft pick.

The Houston Rockets managed to secure a very valuable asset on draft night last year when they picked up the Memphis Grizzlies’ 2nd rounder, as part of the Donte Greene-Darrell Arthur-Nicolas Batum 3-team trade. Unfortunately for them, they were forced to give back that pick when they unloaded Steve Francis’ contract back on Memphis, which saved them a substantial amount of money in luxury tax savings, and allowed them to resign veteran Dikembe Mutombo. They also parted ways with their first round pick as part of the Ron Artest trade, and thus will convey the #23 selection to Sacramento.

Now, Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tells us that his team does not plan on standing pat in this draft. "We plan to buy our way back into the draft using some of this money" Morey told us via email this week, referring to the money his team was able to save by trading Francis.

Morey did not specify which round the team will be looking to move into. It’s widely believed that due to the global economic crisis, there will be numerous draft picks available in the bottom half of the first round this year as teams look to avoid being burdened by guaranteed contracts. With how weak this year’s crop of European prospects is currently shaping up to, it likely won’t be as attractive to "stash" players overseas considering the poor value involved with taking a player 10-15 spots higher than he normally would have went.

http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/#Word-on-the-Street-April-20-3188

the general consensus is that mid-first rounders will come more cheaply than before this draft, especially from cash strapped teams.