A Dragic played really really well in the last part of the year after got a feel for things. He is better then Flynn and taller. Flynn is the 3rd PG in this mix at this time. They will for sure pick up the option.

The Rockets are just stock piling guys with the aspect of making a trade somewhere. We'll see how that works.

Morey has not had much to work with in the way of the draft since he has been here. 14th is the highest pick he has had and he has not had a one every year. I loved the Patterson pick last year and love his upside.

At first blush not too excited about Morris at 14. Find myself feeling better about the next pick. All in all a pretty boring draft selection to pick from.

I did like Dragic alot last season as the season went on.

[This message has been edited by Gradin (edited 6/24/2011 7:38a).]

From Clutch on the Draft. Confirmed that Flynn will be the #3 PG to start off.

-- The Rockets tried to work a deal for 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in an effort to get one specific player. My hunch was the #2 pursuit was to get Kanter, even over Derrick Williams. That was wrong -- it was for Jonas Valanciunas.

-- Brandon Roy all over again? Talked about this before the draft and hearing that was how it played out: Rockets had a scenario in place with Detroit at #8 for Bismack Biyombo and Charlotte swooped in to make the deal with Sacramento at 7 to get Biyombo. Same spots in the draft where the Foye-Roy-Gay issue happened in 2006. Yahoo! had reported Charlotte moved up there to get Tristan Thompson... if that was the case, then obviously Biyombo was next on their list.

-- Apparently the Rockets almost made a deal with the Golden State Warriors for Andris Biedrins tonight, which shocked me (he's owed a lot of $$ I believe). I don't know any details beyond that but look for more in the Houston Chronicle from Jonathan Feigen.

-- Rockets really like Motiejunas' post game. They feel his post moves are very, very good. Still more of a projected player, 2 years down the line, but they like him. They had good intel that he was going just before them at 23 and they jumped up to get him.

-- Sounds like Jonny Flynn is a distant third on the depth chart at PG (which I guess surprised me). They feel he will need to prove himself here, that Lowry-Dragic are clear 1-2.

-- Rockets felt Chandler Parsons was a first round talent all the way ... he was in the mix at #23. They were motivated to buy back their pick at #38 when he was available there. It was mentioned that he would be the third tallest SF in the league next year (haven't checked that).

-- Here's Daryl Morey on going more offense than defense ultimately in the draft and second video: Morey's take on Kevin McHale's impact/role with the team so far.

Here's a good veal from Hollinger:

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Houston got No. 20 from Minnesota (Lithuanian big man Donatas Motiejunas) along with Flynn in return for Brad Miller, picks No. 23 and No. 38 and the future first-rounder from Memphis. (That pick, incidentally, is more protected than Fort Knox -- it will never be in the top 14. It's top-14 protected in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016; at that point it downgrades to a second-rounder.)

Cash-wise the deal is nearly neutral -- Flynn makes less, but insurance will likely pick up a chunk of Miller's contract (Miller had microfracture surgery in the offseason). The interesting part is that the Rockets included a future first-rounder in the deal, which indicates some value was placed on Flynn despite his horrid play last season.

Obviously, the value for Houston depends on getting something out of Flynn (either in trade or on the court) and how Motiejunas develops. But look at it this way -- it would have cost them $3 million to salary dump Miller, which is also the going rate for a late first-rounder. They basically gave Minnesota a late first-rounder to dump Miller instead, and now have a wild card with Flynn. Maybe he develops and maybe he stays terrible. But Houston doesn't really lose anything by giving it a whirl.

For a 22-year-old who had a fairly solid rookie season at age 20? I'd say that's a pretty fair gamble to take, and another cagey move by the Rockets as they build for the post-Yao era.

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Houston tried to get Flynn preseason last year and at the trade deadline last season. They obviously really like him. I bet Scola and Lowery are both out the door and somebody like Josh Smith, Iguodola, or Granger is coming back.

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(That pick, incidentally, is more protected than Fort Knox -- it will never be in the top 14. It's top-14 protected in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016; at that point it downgrades to a second-rounder.)

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Good to hear that

can anyone explain how traded picks work in the NBA draft? I don't understand that the Rockets have a pick in which they took Mirotic and then the guy went to Chicago. It said that the rights to that pick were Chicago's so why didn't Chicago pick who they wanted instead of Houston doing it and giving him away. Not like NFL draft at all and rather wierd to me.

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Not like NFL draft at all and rather wierd to me.

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The NBA has different requirements for traded picks. All teams involved in a trade need to complete a conference call with the league office before the trade can be announced. Therefore, you don't see the player drafted by the team that will acquire him. I agree, it's frustrating to follow.

that helps making some sense of it.

this sums up these posts...

50%-dumb pick, got raped
50%-good move, solid pick

eot

I dont know why Yankees is so down on Rockets drafts, they obviously KILLED it in 2009. We got Thabeet, Flynn, Williams, and Hill. 4 of the top 11 picks!

The Jazz actually have two Aggies in the war room

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only thing Aggie you will see other than videos of Texas players dunking on us.

i know one of those guys for the jazz... didnt realize they had 2 ags

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why are teams shying away from josh selby?

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He did take quite a fall. At one time he was the (Rivals) top prospect coming out of hs, now he goes 49.

Health and character issues is what I have heard. He probably went to as good as situation as he can go to in Memphis.

He will be the third KU player and has cousins who play at the U of Memphis. Plus, Lionel Hollins has done a pretty good on character(?) guys.

How about some post-draft drama?

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This doesn't look good for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

According to several reports, Targuy Ngombo, Minnesota's second-round draft pick, lied about his age and spelling of his name.

Jonathan Givony of Draft Express pointed out that Ngombo, who was believed to be 21-years-old, is actually a soon-to-be 27-year-old named Tanguy Alban Harrys Ngombo.

Qatar's roster on the FIBA website also confirms that Ngombo was born in 1984.

More from Scott Schroeder of SB Nation:

Ngombo was first brought to the mainstream's attention by Jonathan Givony of Draft Express earlier in the week when he mentioned there was a good chance that the Congolese native could get drafted out of Qatar (stay with me now).Timberwolves scout Pete Philo apparently discovered Ngombo and convinced Kahn he was worthy of a draft pick while assuming the small forward was only 21 as it says on his NBA.com page.

Givony tweeted that this makes Ngombo ineligible to be drafted.

Ngombo was selected with the 57th overall pick.

Story developing..

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/24/targuy-ngombo-lied-age-timberwolves-name_n_884281.html

Rockets draft.