Talent development

Just read this article about Fred VanVleet, and the following sentence made me think about the Rockets:

"But I think the better explanation is that the Raptors have been absolutely incredible at developing talent. Here’s a stunning fact: The Raptors do not have a single player on their roster who was selected in the lottery of the NBA draft."

As a Rockets fan, the thing that I find most disappointing about the Rockets as an organization is the inability to put home grown players on the court when things matter, deep into the playoffs. Of the 9 players that played in the awful home loss to the Durant-less Warriors, only one (Capela) was developed by the Rockets. When I look at the Warriors, Nuggets, Portland, the Bucks and the Raptors, they all lean heavily on home grown talent, many times lower picks that became meaningful players. And that's without mentioning the Spurs...

And to add insult to injury, many players who started their career in Houston and shipped out for "better commotidy" flourish elsewhere. I guess this is not a metric that Morey and the smart people he employs take into account. So it's about time they do. Otherwise we will continue to have "Free Agency 20xx" threads in this forum, and new faces will come and leave, but the result will remain the same.

Just read this article about Fred VanVleet, and the following sentence made me think about the Rockets:

"But I think the better explanation is that the Raptors have been absolutely incredible at developing talent. Here’s a stunning fact: The Raptors do not have a single player on their roster who was selected in the lottery of the NBA draft."

As a Rockets fan, the thing that I find most disappointing about the Rockets as an organization is the inability to put home grown players on the court when things matter, deep into the playoffs. Of the 9 players that played in the awful home loss to the Durant-less Warriors, only one (Capela) was developed by the Rockets. When I look at the Warriors, Nuggets, Portland, the Bucks and the Raptors, they all lean heavily on home grown talent, many times lower picks that became meaningful players. And that's without mentioning the Spurs...

And to add insult to injury, many players who started their career in Houston and shipped out for "better commotidy" flourish elsewhere. I guess this is not a metric that Morey and the smart people he employs take into account. So it's about time they do. Otherwise we will continue to have "Free Agency 20xx" threads in this forum, and new faces will come and leave, but the result will remain the same.

I hear you. I would prefer to see a little (meaning A LOT) more reliance on development vs. all of this "trading up".

Marcus Morris. Patrick Patterson. Robert Covington. Montrezl Harrell. Dillon Brooks. DeAnthony Melton (we'll see). Nikola Mirotic. P-Bev counts in my book. I mean, if we are really just going to sit back and jack 3's all day why did we not keep Troy Daniels (I know...I've probably beat this dead horse dozens of times...)? I get his defense is nothing to write home about, but check out these shooting numbers:

Are you going to tell me we can't defend at a better clip than 1.2-1.5 points per possession with him on the floor? He is a flat out monster from the corners. Come on...

Swallow this pill: our last 1st rd. pick was Sam Dekker in 2015.

As a fan, I find it far more rewarding to root for the home team. We're stuck rooting for this year's crop of mercenaries. Yay!