From what I can tell, assuming everything is legit with Ming: his health, his available time to play for the Rockets if chosen, and China's promise to not call him back home for every little thing.....then the Rockets take Ming. They are convinced he has the skills to be a great center, and I think Houston fans (Chinese or otherwise) are used to a center based offense (or at least moreso than it is now with Kevlin "Stone Hands" Cato) and would start flocking back to see the team (if they start winning again).
Me personally? I lean towards trading the pick. Based on what some teams were able to get for high draft picks last season (Elton Brand, Shariff Abdur Rahim, etc), I think the Rockets could get a huge piece to the championship puzzle assuming they trade. Both the top two picks this season are better than the #1 last season (in my opinion, of course), so the value of that pick will be even higher. Now, with that said, I will just give the Rockets brass the benefit of the doubt in this scenario, as it has been made painfully clear to me over the years that my judgement when it comes to which players will be great and which ones will bust is HIGHLY suspect.
For example, I could have SWORN Rodrick Rhodes was going to be a superstar.
Me personally? I lean towards trading the pick. Based on what some teams were able to get for high draft picks last season (Elton Brand, Shariff Abdur Rahim, etc), I think the Rockets could get a huge piece to the championship puzzle assuming they trade. Both the top two picks this season are better than the #1 last season (in my opinion, of course), so the value of that pick will be even higher. Now, with that said, I will just give the Rockets brass the benefit of the doubt in this scenario, as it has been made painfully clear to me over the years that my judgement when it comes to which players will be great and which ones will bust is HIGHLY suspect.
For example, I could have SWORN Rodrick Rhodes was going to be a superstar.
