Tuesday night, there were some clear winners following the NBA's annual Draft Lottery:
The Chicago Bulls (1.7% chance pays off huge)
The Miami Heat (because the decision is now made easy for them)
David Stern (suck it, conspiracy theorists!)
The Eastern Conference
... and maybe, just maybe -- the Houston Rockets.
Yes, I'm being serious.
Let's break it down. The Houston Rockets have a few basic goals to accomplish during this offseason: (1) find a taker for Luther Head, (2) solidify the point guard position, and (3) get more athletic at the swing-positions. I think we can all agree on this, right?
Now, let's look at the Chicago Bulls. They have their choice between Derrick Rose - the supposed can't miss PG who also happens to be from Chicago, or Michael Beasley - the low-post presence Chicago has never really had before. They can't go wrong here. BUT... the fans, bloggers and media are already begging the Bulls to bypass Beasley and draft Rose.
So, let's say the Bulls settle on Rose.
Enter Daryl Morey...
If the Bulls take Rose, that is a clear signal that they have no use for Kirk Hinrich anymore. There's a fan petition out to get rid of him already. Which sounds too much like my initial Rafer petition. Hey! Idea!!!
ESPN is killing me by not having the Trade Machine already operational for the offseason, so we'll have to wing it here......... but don't the Rockets have to at least consider a big trade with Chicago if the price is right? T-Mac still hasn't gotten out of the first round. He's about to be a very, very old 29 year old with a bad back and lots of mileage. Luther Head sucks. Rafer sucks less than he used to, but he's not exactly CP3 or Deron Williams.
If Chicago is at all interested in the concept of Rose being paired with McGrady -- wouldn't the Rockets also be interested in a lineup of, say:
C: Yao/ Mutombo (or Hibbert??)
PF: Scola/ Landry/ Hayes
SF: Battier/ Luol Deng / Mike Harris
SG: Ben Gordon / Battier / Deng
PG: Kirk Hinrich / Aaron Brooks / Bobby J
while you could never replace the intangibles McGrady brings... I think it's fair to say McGrady hasn't exactly been bringing much of 'em to the table lately. Furthermore, McGrady has two years left on his contract at $20M each year. Deng was a potential all-star a year ago. Hinrich is coming off a down year but the dude can ball. And he's clearly better than Rafer/Luther. Gordon is going into his 4th year and is instant offense *plus* he can actually shoot free throws.
Isn't this the very definition of "buy low / sell high"???
The only real issue would be getting the contracts to match for salary cap purposes, since Hinrich is a base-year player right now and Deng and Gordon don't exactly have contracts just yet. But Daryl Morey is a genius and he could figure it out.
This trade would make the Rockets younger, faster and more flexible at each position almost immediately. Yao would still be the Man, but he's get many more open shots with Scola on the post and Deng able to hit the mid-range J with regularity. The Rockets could be scary good.
Am I wrong, or could this really work!?!?
The Chicago Bulls (1.7% chance pays off huge)
The Miami Heat (because the decision is now made easy for them)
David Stern (suck it, conspiracy theorists!)
The Eastern Conference
... and maybe, just maybe -- the Houston Rockets.
Yes, I'm being serious.
Let's break it down. The Houston Rockets have a few basic goals to accomplish during this offseason: (1) find a taker for Luther Head, (2) solidify the point guard position, and (3) get more athletic at the swing-positions. I think we can all agree on this, right?
Now, let's look at the Chicago Bulls. They have their choice between Derrick Rose - the supposed can't miss PG who also happens to be from Chicago, or Michael Beasley - the low-post presence Chicago has never really had before. They can't go wrong here. BUT... the fans, bloggers and media are already begging the Bulls to bypass Beasley and draft Rose.
So, let's say the Bulls settle on Rose.
Enter Daryl Morey...
If the Bulls take Rose, that is a clear signal that they have no use for Kirk Hinrich anymore. There's a fan petition out to get rid of him already. Which sounds too much like my initial Rafer petition. Hey! Idea!!!
ESPN is killing me by not having the Trade Machine already operational for the offseason, so we'll have to wing it here......... but don't the Rockets have to at least consider a big trade with Chicago if the price is right? T-Mac still hasn't gotten out of the first round. He's about to be a very, very old 29 year old with a bad back and lots of mileage. Luther Head sucks. Rafer sucks less than he used to, but he's not exactly CP3 or Deron Williams.
If Chicago is at all interested in the concept of Rose being paired with McGrady -- wouldn't the Rockets also be interested in a lineup of, say:
C: Yao/ Mutombo (or Hibbert??)
PF: Scola/ Landry/ Hayes
SF: Battier/ Luol Deng / Mike Harris
SG: Ben Gordon / Battier / Deng
PG: Kirk Hinrich / Aaron Brooks / Bobby J
while you could never replace the intangibles McGrady brings... I think it's fair to say McGrady hasn't exactly been bringing much of 'em to the table lately. Furthermore, McGrady has two years left on his contract at $20M each year. Deng was a potential all-star a year ago. Hinrich is coming off a down year but the dude can ball. And he's clearly better than Rafer/Luther. Gordon is going into his 4th year and is instant offense *plus* he can actually shoot free throws.
Isn't this the very definition of "buy low / sell high"???
The only real issue would be getting the contracts to match for salary cap purposes, since Hinrich is a base-year player right now and Deng and Gordon don't exactly have contracts just yet. But Daryl Morey is a genius and he could figure it out.
This trade would make the Rockets younger, faster and more flexible at each position almost immediately. Yao would still be the Man, but he's get many more open shots with Scola on the post and Deng able to hit the mid-range J with regularity. The Rockets could be scary good.
Am I wrong, or could this really work!?!?