Jackson, Gatlin from the
Lockdown Rockets podcast.
Always nice to talk to you about this team.
We haven't really visited for a while,
but hey, it's draft week and this
this team is front and Center
3 picks in the first round.
Let's start with number three.
Hey the the number one
question for any draft week.
Who are they taking?
Where do you think the Rockets go?
I have a feeling you you're going
to go one particular direction,
but I want to hear you say.
Yeah, no, I think right now.
All signs Daniel are pointing
towards the guy Paolo Banchero.
He's probably going to be the guy who's
available at pick #3 for the Houston Rockets.
Will say that as we are just a
few days out of the NBA draft,
there are so there is some you know,
rumblings about the fact that
Orlando may not be completely locked
in on Jabari at number one.
That OKC might be really interested in Palo
Banker or potentially even Jaden Ivy at #2.
Is this just posturing from
those other two organizations?
Maybe trying to trade down a little bit
extract a little bit a little bit of value
from a team like the Houston Rockets,
or like the Sacramento Kings?
And kind of convince one of those two
teams to maybe trade up a little bit.
That could be the case,
but right now I feel very confident
in saving saying that by the end
of Thursday evening Palenquero will
be a Houston rocket at pick #3.
So what do you think of that?
I think Paula Becker is a really
interesting prospect and to be
completely transparent with you, Daniel,
I you know earlier on in the predraft
process I was actually a little bit
kind of down on Palo Bancaire as a
player because I looked at him and I
thought man like what if he's just one
of those kind of like inefficient bigs
like he never really gets the outside
shot going and he's got to have the
ball in his hands to be effective.
But I really started looking
at him as a playmaker.
Somebody who can be kind of
the focal point for an offense.
You put the ball in his hands
he creates at a high level for
himself and for his teammates.
And then kind of extending that
benefit of the doubt to him where
he's got the basketball like you
to be a good creator without with
the basketball in his hands.
And I think that will be able to
extend to his game elsewhere as
like he can be a good screen setter
and then kind of operate out of
the middle of the floor.
Kind of coming out of the pick and
roll if you put him in the pick and
roll with a guy like Jalen Green or
Kevin Porter junior and have him kind
of run some two man game like that,
I think he can be a really potent
force offensively.
And there are some question
marks about the outside shot.
Whether or not it's going to
translate at the NBA level 34.
Sent in college.
Not the best number,
not an absolute catastrophe either.
And then defensively maybe leaves a
little bit of something to be desired,
but he has all the tools and all
the makings to be a high caliber
player on that end of the floor.
If he chooses to.
And during some of his pre draft
interviews and whatnot he's
basically said look, I understand,
you know,
I've dropped the ball a little
bit defensively.
Maybe I was a little bit too exhausted from,
you know,
shouldering too much of a load offensively.
At least he's aware of the problem
and knows what he needs to fix.
And I think that's really important.
I think the rock it's all about
fit right too? I mean you.
I mean I think he can be a guy that
you can grow with some of these
other young talented players at
the Rockets have don't you think?
I think you you got to evaluate fit a little
bit, but at the end of the day it should
be especially at the top of the draft.
It should be about who you think is the
best actual talent at the top of the draft.
I think as you get a little bit later
in the draft you know pick 1726,
which I'm sure we're going to
discuss here in a moment.
Then you maybe start factoring in
a little bit like OK.
What are the team needs, what?
Or maybe some positional needs.
You know if you could draft a
little bit more for some depth
somewhere else on the floor,
or target a specific skill set,
but at the top of the draft you know,
I think you got to go with
whoever the best prospect is,
and thankfully for the Rockets,
and they're in the position where the
decision is largely kind of made for them,
right?
Whoever goes at one and two there are kind of
three more or less consensus top prospects,
with the three big men at
the top of this draft,
and the Rockets are just going
to get whoever's left which at
this point I really do think
it's going to be palank arrow.
Do you think they keep the third pick?
I know there's always posturing.
You know this.
You know the these organizations are like,
well, we're not sure if we're gonna
make the pig draft night things change.
I mean, they've got three in the first round.
I, I tend to think they gonna keep this one,
and if they're gonna move anything,
it's going to be either 17 or 26.
I would think.
Yeah, I'm I'm absolutely
inclined to agree with you.
I have 0 doubts in my mind that
they would explore the idea of
trading that third overall pick.
There are some rumblings that they
might be trying to potentially
trade up to either the 2nd pick
or the 1st overall pick again.
Whether or not there's a whole
bunch of truth to those rumors.
Or again. Maybe it's just some
organizational posturing.
I win the draft lottery happened and we
knew Houston secured a top three pick.
It was basically a foregone conclusion
in my mind at that point that they
were going to make a selection
had they landed at four or five.
I think it would have been a lot
more murky as to whether or not
they were actually going to make
the selection at four or five,
because, again,
you start getting away from the
consensus top talents in the draft.
Maybe question marks about how do you?
How do you factor in a guy like Jade and Ivy?
If you were to draft him at four or five,
but thankfully.
The Rockets aren't in that position.
It's the decisions largely
largely made for them.
They're gonna get a top Tier 1 prospect,
and that's again to pair somebody
like that with a Jalen Green.
You've already got from last year's draft.
It's going to be an incredible
way to jumpstart this rebuild.
You're splitting hairs.
I'm gonna ask this question
by splitting some hairs.
Is there one of those guys that
if the Rockets do take them,
we're leaning on Van Carro, obviously?
But if there's one of those guys
that you'd be kind of like Oh no,
I wish I wish they had gone for me.
It's home great.
I think the rocket should
probably stay away from home grim.
I think he's going to go either one or two.
That's fine,
but I just think his physical nature.
I mean, I think he's got a long way to
go in the physical aspect of the game.
Very talented guy, as we saw in Gonzaga,
but I I think that would be
the player if the Rockets.
Like I'm like, hmm,
I wish they would have gone somewhere else.
Yeah, I'm I'm right there with you.
Honestly, I have the most reservations
about about Chet Holmgren, just from.
Again, you look at him.
You look at the the physical
nature of where the NBA is at.
I mean, the guy weighs 195 pounds right now,
like he needs to add some serious
muscle to be able to reach his
true potential as an NBA big.
And with his frame with his current size,
like how much more muscle can you
realistically expect for him to add is it?
Is it 15 pounds?
Is it 20? Is it 25?
I will throw out this comparison,
Yannis into the couple.
Managed to add £50 of muscle from
from where he was at his rookie
year when he was drafted to where
he is at right now Yannis is called
the Greek Freak for a reason.
Maybe Chet Holmgren is the next
freak of nature that's able to do
that and add 40 or £50 of muscle
to his frame and he becomes one
of the next all time greats.
But right now I don't necessarily see that.
At least I'm not super confident in that
happening, so I'm right there with you.
I am a little hesitant about Chet Holmgren.
I do think that any one of these top three
guys is an absolute slam dunk, though.
When you look at Jabari.
Chet and Powell.
They each got their strengths,
they each got their weaknesses and to me.
Even though Jabari is favored
to go number one,
I really don't necessarily know
if there is a clear cut favorite
for number one in this draft.
Just because again,
each guy brings a certain
skill set to the table.
And this is one of those few years
where there isn't that like locked
in consensus number one guy.
Alright,
so 17 and 26. We talked about
some of the flexibility they they
do have with possibly moving out
of those picks and you talked
about fit in these selections.
Where should the Rockets go?
Let's say they do keep the picks.
Where do you think they should go?
What needs do they need to
fill in those two spots?
Well, I think you you look at the way
the Rockets drafted last year, right?
They picked up two guards in
Jalen Green and Josh Christopher.
They've still got the Kevin Porter
junior experiment going on strong.
Then they also picked up Alperin,
Shingon and Usman Garuba Alperin Shinbun
his future as a lot more clear now
with the departure of Christian wood,
so alpha is the future for this Rockets team.
Hopefully Usman Garuba gets
more run this this next season.
They need some wing help,
they need some some length
and some size on the wings.
Daniel this is a rocket scene that has been.
So small for so long, especially
this past these past couple seasons,
trotting out Christian wood at the five.
Who is, you know,
a bit smaller on the scale of five,
you know, just across the NBA and then
for the entirety of this past season.
Having Jay Sean Tate at
6-4 be your power forward,
I'm ready to see this Rockets
team bring some size into the mix,
and so one of my favorite picks
for the Rockets,
and I hope he's there at 17
when they make that selection.
If they make that selection
is Tari Eason from LSU.
He's a guy who's got great size.
Great defensive versatility.
We throw around that term defends one
through 5 quite a bit when we talk
about high caliber defenders in the NBA.
This is a guy who can very legitimately
guard one through 5 and not only that,
he's a pretty strong offensive
player as well.
He can be a a terror in transition
when he gets going downhill and he's
shooting about 37% from the three point line.
There are some concerns about his game.
Maybe he plays a little bit
reckless at time on boat on time,
I should say.
Reckless at times on both sides
of the basketball can get into a
little bit of early foul trouble
and then all offensively can be a
little bit tunnel visioned at times,
but the effort, the intensity,
the hustle,
the grit is all there and then for a
guy who gives you all that defensive
versatility to also be a 37% three
point shooter on the other end of
the floor that is going to be a top
tier role player at the NBA level.
For you, how exciting is it
to just watch the team grow,
especially this time of year,
bringing in new faces?
Last year we saw really especially
towards the end of the year some
of these guys really step up.
Kind of pretty to live up to some of
that young potential that they had.
Yes, there was still room to grow
and they still made mistakes.
We all get that.
But boy, the flashes were there of
how exciting this team could be.
Just for you.
How exciting is it to see this team
build through this process now at
the draft and the next couple of
years could be pretty exciting
given what's going on with Brooklyn.
They can have some assets here
that are pretty high.
Absolutely no doubt.
Look, I think a big part of what
makes sports so inherently specially
and is you you have to appreciate
the journey right where it's it's
cool to be able to be competing in
the playoffs and to be vying for
championships year and year out.
That kind of thing.
But being able to appreciate the journey
that it takes to get to that point
right to have the highs and the lows.
As a sports fan to see this
team hopefully grow something
really special from the ground.
Upright the this and this all kind
of started in that moment where they
kept their pick last year and then
they were able to select Jalen Green.
Second overall,
that's where you really started
to see the domino effect of.
OK, this is potentially the
beginnings of the Rockets laying
the foundation for what is going
to hopefully be a very competitive,
very highly entertaining team
for a long long time.
And so to me especially
these past couple years.
Seeing just the influx of young talent
after the Rockets being one of the oldest.
If not I do believe at one time the
oldest team in the association.
For a little while,
one of the oldest teams. Yeah,
yeah, you know you get this influx of
young talent and there's absolutely
growing pains with that right?
You see rookie mistakes left and right.
You see Steven Silas.
Maybe you know, getting a little bit
of Gray hair sooner than he would
have liked because of some of the
mistakes being made on the floor.
But it's the learning.
It's the growth, it's it's seeing these guys,
you know they they're making mistakes earlier
in the season and then you see them grow.
And suddenly you're like, oh,
I remember when Jalen Green for usually
would forget to do XYZ offensively?
Or he would, you know, struggle.
Regard this type of matchup
defensively and then you watch as
he progresses through the season.
You're like he's making strides.
He's growing as a player and then
you have a payoff like we got at
the end of the season where we
saw Jalen Green go for 30 plus in
six of his final seven games,
and that's where you can really
look at and be like they're building
something special here and working
towards something absolutely phenomenal.
And finally I did.
I asked you that question
before asking you about 26.
Now obviously you know it
depends on what they do with 17.
How that goes. I know there's again
the rumors around Eric Gordon.
Whether or not they're going to move him if
they package some kind of deal with them.
You know anything is possible.
I think when she gets 26,
but is there another player,
not, maybe specifically at 26?
Was there another player that
really kind of stands out to you
in this draft that you think can
really fit the Rockets picture?
Yeah, actually.
So another guy that I'm really,
really high on and I think he has a
lot of potential as an NBA player is
actually from the G League ignite.
His name is Marjean Beauchamp.
He's another guy who has all
the makings to be kind of a
defensive ace at the NBA level.
I would kind of compare him to
Philadelphia's Matisse Thybulle if you will.
A guy that has you know the ability
to be an absolute dog defensively.
A great like lockdown one on one perimeter
defender all the physical gifts to
make somebody's life a living hell.
On that into the basketball floor
and then offensively he's capable
with the basketball in his hands.
He can put the ball on the floor.
He's got a competent dribble.
He's actually got some pretty
underrated court vision.
I think as a playmaker the biggest
drawback on his game is the fact that
his three point shot is not great.
He shot.
Just believe I'm going off my head here,
but 24%, I think in the G League,
which is not a great number.
But when you look at him actually shooting,
there's nothing mechanically wrong
with his shot. It's a good form.
It's a good shooting stroke and he was a
decent 3 point shooter back in high school.
And he was a decent shooter
from the free throw line,
so maybe it's just something that just
didn't quite translate at the G League level.
I think it is something that
he can work on and build on.
And when you look at everything
else that he has in his toolkit,
it's a good foundation for
a player to start with.
And when you're taking a swing
at potentially the 26th pick,
that's exactly the type of guy you want.
You want to maybe take a swing on
all right? Jackson Rockets picked
three times in the first round.
We'll see what happens.
Thanks buddy for joining
me. Absolutely always a pleasure.