FanPost

Carroll Dawson's Lost Decade?

[Nice analysis from the FanPosts -- Tom]

Carroll Dawson was the Rockets GM from 1996 to 2007. I wanted to grade his performance since it seems like the current guy is much more productive in that position. How much better is DM than CD? Or, is DM just lucky? Let’s do the analysis. I’m not sure if he participated in the 1996 draft so this analysis will not give credit for the Randy Livingston / Othella Harrington draft class.

1997 – drafted Rodrick Rhodes (24) & Serge Zwicker (2nd, 1); passed on no stars

1998 – drafted Michael Dickerson (14), Bryce Drew (16), Mirsad Turkcan (18), Cuttino Mobley (2nd, 12); passed on Ricky Davis (21), Al Harrington (25), Ruben Patterson (2nd, 2), Rafer Alston (2nd, 10), Rashard Lewis (2nd, 3)

1999 – drafted Kenny Thomas (22), Tyrone Washington (2nd, 44), Venson Hamilton (2nd, 50); passed on Devean George (23), Andre Kirilenko (24)

2000 – drafted Jason Collier (15), Dan Langhi (2nd, 2); passed on Hedo Turkoglu (16), Desmond Mason (17), Quentin Richardson (18), Speedy Claxton (20), Michael Redd (2nd, 14)

2001 – drafted Richard Jefferson (13, traded for Eddie Griffin), Jason Collins (15, also traded), Brandon Armstrong (18); passed on Troy Murphy (14), Zach Randolph (19), Brendan Haywood (20), Jamaal Tinsley (27), Tony Parker (28), Gilbert Arenas (2nd, 2), Mehmet Okur (2nd, 9)

2002 – drafted Yao Ming (1), Bostjan Nachbar (15), Tito Maddox (2nd, 9); passed on (after the Nachbar pick) Tayshaun Prince (19), Carlos Boozer (2nd, 6), Luis Scola (2nd, 27)

2003 – No 1st Round Picks, drafted Malick Badiane (2nd, 15); passed on Kyle Korver

2004 – No 1st Round Picks, drafted Luis Flores (2nd, 27)

2005 – drafted Luther Head (24); passed on David Lee (30);

2006 – drafted Rudy Gay (8, traded for Battier), Steve Novak (2nd, 2)

From the 2007 to 2010 drafts, DM drafted Aaron Brooks at 26 and Carl Landry in the second round. In Boston, DM participated in drafting Rondo and Kendrick Perkins. What marks the CD years isn’t just the spectacular blunders (passing up Rashard Lewis 3 times, trading Rudy Gay for Battier, trading Richard Jefferson for Eddie Griffin, missing star after star) but is actually the numerous years where we couldn’t even find someone who could get a spot on an NBA roster. Combined with 2003 and 2004 when we didn’t have a draft pick, CD’s stewardship of the draft was like a colossal shipwreck that stifled the Rockets’ ability to get vital young talent. CD did find us Cuttino Mobley though. That was one good, non-obvious pick.

Now, lets look at trades. Here, CD does a little better. He got us Barkley. But, he had to gut the entire team. CD got us Pippen for a steal. The Francis trade was a no brainer and Francis forced that trade. Then the McGrady trade got a high value for assets that seemed to be at their peak. However, with CD we see a pattern of neglecting the draft and swinging for the fences with big trades for superstars. During that era, the Rockets’ big weakness was always journeymen at key spots (Matt Maloney, Jon Barry, Steve Novak, etc. playing big roles in the playoffs and getting outmatched by guys like Stockton and Dirk).

Now, lets look at DM’s trades. DM has gotten us stars like Kevin Martin and Luis Scola via trade, but he has never gutted the team in order to do so.

So, what’s the CD legacy? Was CD a guy who made the blockbuster trade but his stars couldn’t pull it off or was CD’s decade overall the lost decade for Rockets’ basketball?

No cursing in title. No pirated material, such as links to online game streams. Do not cut/paste entire sections of content from other websites. Thanks.

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