Rockets adhere to draft philosophy
Grab best player available and watch him develop
By Jonathan Feigen
NASA on Friday announced its next rocket will be its most powerful and called it “America’s Next Great Rocket.” The NBA draft is not likely to land the Rockets players billed so breathlessly, but the future rocket and Rockets could have something in common. Their potential might be predicted but will not be realized for three or four years.
For all that has changed with the basketball-playing Rockets, that much has not.
They went deeper in the playoffs than in any season since 1997. They won more playoff series than in the rest of general manager Daryl Morey’s previous seven seasons as GM combined. They hope to bring back more of the previous season’s roster than he ever has. But they will go into Thursday’s draft determined to choose the best player they can get, regardless of need, and to look at the potential three or four years later.
“We’re still focused on the best player available,” Morey said via text message.
For the Rockets, that is not just a strategy heading into this season’s draft, considered strong well into the first round; that is a philosophy every season.
Many teams contend they will choose only the best player on the board when they are on the clock — and after the draft insist the player they took was just who they wanted — but the Rockets’ recent history choosing players at the same position supports their argument.
Morey often has said teams get the best value and are less likely to make draft mistakes by ignoring need. He has changed his roster so often those needs have changed before draft prospects reach their potential.
This offseason, the Rockets are less likely to make widespread roster changes, making it easier to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses. But the Rockets will head into the draft with the 18th pick believing nothing has changed in their way of thinking.
“Strategy-wise, we stay pretty consistent,” Rockets vice president Gersson Rosas said. “Our focus is always on draft the best player available. The reality is the draft is usually a multiyear decision. For us, it’s (about) identifying the best talent, getting on the same page in terms of the front office and coaching staff and seeing how these guys will fit in our style and philosophy.
“For us, the matter of trying to address roster needs to play next year is probably not a healthy exercise. For the level wewant to play, we’re probably going to have to address those needs either in free agency or the trade market, depending on how our own free agency goes. Our focus is to bring all our guys back. Whatever we do in the draft adds to our depth and our development.”
The Rockets could go into the draft looking for a missing piece to bolster a contender. With the pick acquired from New Orleans in the trade that sent Omer Asik to the Pelicans, they will select much earlier than if they had kept their own pick, the 27th in the first round. (That went to the Lakers to move Jeremy Lin.)
Because the Rockets are a better team than any they’ve had under Morey, even a player selected with a better pick than most teams with 56 wins typically have, they would like to think their rotation would be too strong for a player taken 18th to immediately crack.
“The reality is with our depth with our team, guys are going to have to fight to get an opportunity to play,” Rosas said. “But we’re also mindful of the fact that you’re going to have trades and injuries and situations where if young guys are ready to go, Coach (Kevin) McHale and the coaching staff will give them an opportunity to play. While it was very rare what happened with Clint Capela last year, that’s what you strive for.
“You set up your board, what you think the draft looks like depending on where you are in the draft, and prepare options to move up, options to move back to see where we can get the best value. But our focus remains the same: Let’s identify the best available players and let’s see if we can make them Houston Rockets to help us down the road.”
If the Rockets add two rookies to next season’s roster (they also have the second pick of the second round), they could have as many as six first- or second-year players.
KJ McDaniels will be a free agent, but the Rockets hope to sign him. The Rockets do want to bring back Kostas Papanikolaou, but Rosas said “a decision has not been made” about whether to exercise their option on the second year of his contract or to try to sign him again as a free agent. But Morey said he would not hesitate to add two more first-year players, even if the Rockets keep all of last season’s rookies.
“We’re not worried about how many young players we have,” Morey said. “I think it’s good to have a mix of veterans and young players.”
The draft class is considered especially deep in the middle of the first round.
Morey said he expects the depth of the draft to lead to heavy trade activity, though he added he thought that last season when the draft order stayed relatively unchanged.
The Rockets hope this season’s draft is like last season’s for another reason. Last season, they selected Capela with the 25th pick as a prospect to develop. Hespent most of the season in the NBA Development League, moving into the Rockets’ rotation late in the season, well ahead of schedule.
They would have similar expectations going into Thursday’s draft, but with reason for similar hopes.
“Those two guys in the draft, it’ll be a year of development,” Rosas said. “You hope they surprise you, but more than likely they’ll be playing games, developing and getting better.
“We do feel this draft has good depth. There is a good array of college players who have good experience and young players coming into the draft after one year. There is good talent at different positions. The international market has some intriguing players as well. We feel fortunate to be in the position we’re at having made the trade to 18 instead of our original draft position. We’re in a good position to get good value in this draft.”
That’s what they want, even if they don’t get “America’s Next Great Rocket.”
“Let’s identify the best available players and let’s see if we can make them Houston Rockets to help us down the road.” Gersson Rosas, Rockets vice president