The Houston Rockets were one of the biggest losers during the 2022 NBA Draft Lottery. Despite finishing with the worst record in the league during the 2021-22 season, going 20-62, and having the best odds to land the No. 1 overall pick, the Rockets moved down two spots.
Houston will be selecting third overall in the 2022 NBA Draft. The Orlando Magic, who had the second-worst record in the league at 22-60, moved up into the No. 1 spot. The Oklahoma City Thunder, who had the fourth-worst record at 24-58, moved into the No. 2 spot ahead of Houston.
The Detroit Pistons also moved down two spots in the lottery and will be selecting No. 5. The Indiana Pacers and Portland Trail Blazers each moved down one spot and will be on the clock with the No. 6 and 7 picks.
While some Rockets fans will be disappointed about the drop, they should be happy about staying in the top three. A consensus group has begun emerging that includes Auburn’s Jabari Smith, Duke’s Paolo Banchero, and Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren.
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Houston will have the opportunity to add one of them to their roster in a few weeks during the draft. That is if they even hold onto the selection. Following the lottery, Houston Rockets general manager Rafael Stone spoke openly about the team’s plans.
He said that the team would take the best player available when asked who they may target. He also left the door open about a possible trade down the road.
“I will not block them out. I am always available to talk. If there are teams interested in the pick, then we are always available to talk. And if there is something that makes sense for both teams, something will get done.”
The Houston Rockets also own the No. 17 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, so being open to trades makes sense. They could look to speed up the rebuild timeline and bring in a veteran to help the development of the young players they already have on the roster, such as Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Usman Garuba, and Josh Christopher, all first-round picks from the 2021 NBA Draft.
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Houston also has some veterans of their own, such as John Wall, Christian Wood, and Eric Gordon, they could look to move this offseason. Draft capital could be attached to sweeten a package including them or they could dive even deeper into the rebuild and add another crop of rookies to the roster.
It will be interesting to see what Stone does as he has plenty of options this offseason when it comes to building out the roster. Knowing he has a franchise pillar in Green makes the process a little easier to figure out.
