Houston Rockets: 5 Best/Worst Draft Picks In Team History

The Houston Rockets, like every team in the NBA, have a mixed history of success and failure in the NBA Draft. Here are there best and worst draft picks in franchise history.

Best Honorable Mentions:

Rodney McCray: In the 1983 NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets has the first and third overall picks. Taking Ralph Sampson was the easy choice, but selecting McCray over the hometown Clyde Drexler was met with some criticism. The Rockets struggled again that season … which landed them the No. 1 pick, Hakeem Olajuwon, in the famous 1984 NBA Draft. McCray averaged 12.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in five seasons with the Rockets.

Mike Newlin: Newlin averaged 14 points per game in eight seasons with the Rockets and was a value pick as the 24th overall selection in the 1971 NBA Draft. Sure, he was taken ahead of Spencer Haywood, but nobody saw Haywood coming and Newlin was solid for his tenure in Houston.

Cuttino Mobley: Mobley was an ultra-value pick since he was selected as the 41st overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft. Mobley posted 16.7 points per game in six seasons with the Rockets, peaking during the 2001-02 season when he averaged 21.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. It’s funny, in a draft where the Rockets had three first round picks, you wouldn’t have expected their second-round pick to be the most valuable addition, but that’s what Mobley was.

Sam Cassell: Cassell’s best seasons in the NBA weren’t in Houston and he only played there for three seasons, but he was an integral part of the Rockets’ back-to-back championship teams, splitting playing time at the point guard position with Kenny Smith. And since he was a value pick as the 24th overall selection in the 1993 NBA Draft, it’s hard to leave Cassell off this list.

Ralph Sampson: Ralph Sampson’s time in the NBA was cut short by injuries, but he was such a dominant college player that he deserved to be the No. 1 pick in the 1983 NBA Draft. He averaged 18.7 points and 10.1 rebounds in four and a half seasons with the Rockets, forming the other dominant post force of “The Twin Towers” with Hakeem Olajuwon. Had Sampson stayed healthy, that 1986 Rockets team that lost to the Boston Celtics in the Finals could have altered the NBA landscape for years.

Rudy Tomjanovich: Rudy T was taken second overall in the 1970 NBA Draft, ahead of Hall of Famers Pete Maravich and Dave Cowens, but was a five-time NBA All-Star, had his jersey retired by the Rockets and averaged 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game during his 11-year career. And since Rudy T stayed with the Rockets all 11 seasons, he stayed with the Rockets after he retired. He never won a championship as a player, but eventually grabbed the head coaching job and helped lead the Rockets to their two NBA titles. “Never underestimate the heart of a champion!” indeed.

Best 5 Picks:

5. Robert Horry: It was hard to leave Ralph Sampson and Rudy T out of the top five, but there’s something about Big Shot Rob that transcends simple statistics. Horry wasn’t a top-tier talent and was taken 11th overall in the 1992 NBA Draft. Looking at his numbers in Houston, his 10.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game don’t look particularly impressive, especially since Horry was only a member of the Rockets for four seasons. But like Sam Cassell, Horry was an integral part of two championship teams during his stay there. And of course, you can’t mention Big Shot Rob without remembering his clutch Finals moments, including an NBA Finals record seven steals in one game and five 3-pointers in one quarter.

4. Elvin Hayes: As the No. 1 pick in the 1968 NBA Draft, Elvin Hayes had high expectations to live up to. He was criticized by sports writers, but the guy put up undeniably superb numbers, averaging an absurd 27.5 points and 16.3 rebounds per game in four seasons with the Rockets. Had he stayed longer than four seasons, he’d be much higher on the list considering he’s a Hall of Famer and one of the 50 greatest NBA players of all time.

3. Yao Ming: Had the No. 1 pick of the 2002 NBA Draft stayed healthy, he might have climbed even higher up on this list. An 8-time NBA All-Star, Ming was a dominant force in the paint challenged only by Shaquille O’Neal. He averaged 19 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game for his career and after eight seasons with the Rockets, is the sixth all-time leader in points and rebounds. He’s also the second all-time leader in blocks. Ming and Tracy McGrady were one of the NBA’s most formidable duos and helped the Rockets string along their historic 22-game winning streak. He was the face of the franchise for awhile and the NBA became insanely popular in China thanks to his success.

2. Calvin Murphy: In the 1970 NBA Draft, the San Diego Rockets’ better selection actually ended up being their second pick at No. 18, Calvin Murphy. The Rockets passed up a future Hall of Famer in Nate Archibald, but Murphy also ended up being a Hall of Famer who averaged 17.9 points and 4.4 assists per game in 13 seasons. At just 5’9″, Murphy made up for his lack of height with his quickness and was the franchise’s all-time leading scorer until this next guy came along.

1. Hakeem Olajuwon: If you’re wondering how good Hakeem Olajuwon was, consider the following fact: In the 1984 NBA Draft, the Rockets passed on Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, by taking Olajuwon first overall .. .and no one really sees that move as a mistake. Hakeem “The Dream” brought the Rockets two NBA championships and had some of the greatest post moves in the history of basketball. In 1994, he became the first player in NBA history to win the MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Finals MVP awards in the same season. He averaged 21.8 points, 11.1 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game over his 18-year career and is a top 10 NBA player of all time (or top 15, depending on your list).

Worst Honorable Mentions:

Joel Przybilla: As the ninth pick in the 2000 NBA Draft, the Rockets selected poor Przybilla ahead of guys like Hedo Turkoglu, Jamaal Magloire and Michael Redd. Przybilla was immediately traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Jason Collier and has career averages of 3.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

Bingo Smith: With the sixth overall pick in the 1969 NBA Draft, the Rockets picked Bingo Smith ahead of guys like Jo Jo White and Bob Dandridge in the hopes that he’d produce at the NBA level. Unfortunately, Bingo was not his name-o and Smith averaged 7.3 points per game in one season in San Diego.

Luther Head: Head had a promising college career in Illinois, but his NBA career pretty much fizzled after a decent rookie season. As the 24th pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, Head was picked ahead of more successful players like Brandon Bass, David Lee and Ersan Ilyasova.

Bostjan Nachbar (picked ahead of Carlos Boozer): Nachbar was the 15th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft and played two and a half seasons with the Rockets. He averaged 2.8 points per game in Houston, which stings considering the Rockets took him ahead of Carlos Boozer.

Lee Johnson: In the 1979 NBA Draft, the Rockets picked Johnson 17th overall. The number of games Johnson played in during his NBA career is actually fewer than the number of players picked ahead of him in the draft. Johnson scored a total of 17 points in his 12-game NBA career before playing overseas.

Nicolas Batum: Had the Rockets actually stuck with Batum, their 25th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, they would’ve done well. Instead, they participated in a three-team draft-day trade that got them Joey Dorsey and Donte Green. Have you ever heard of those two guys? No. Have you ever heard of Nicolas Batum? Moving on.

Worst 5 Picks:

5. Royce White: Any time you draft a guy who will never play a game for you, whose obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety issues make him miss NBA camp, who requires a bus schedule for all away games because he has a fear of flying and who refuses his D-League assignment despite never showing any signs of meeting your organization halfway…you’ve made a mistake. I’m not insensitive to mental health issues, but White did everything in his power to make life difficult for the Rockets, who were actually able to squeeze some use out of him by trading him to the 76ers, clearing up enough space to sign Dwight Howard. As the 16th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, White was picked ahead of Tyler Zeller, Evan Fournier and other quality reserves.

4. Buck Johnson: Drafted ahead of Arvydas Sabonis, Mark Price, Dennis Rodman and Kevin Duckworth in the 1986 NBA Draft, Buck Johnson played for the Rockets for six seasons and averaged 9.3 points per game. However, he was never a part of the Rockets championship teams and certainly never measured up to the likes of Rodman or Sabonis. Had they taken Rodman or Sabonis, maybe they would’ve found an immediate replacement in the paint when Ralph Sampson was injured and traded the following season.

3. The 1998 NBA Draft: Before we start, anytime a team has three first round picks in a draft and their best selection that year turns out to be a second round pick, something probably went wrong. And that’s exactly what happened in the 1998 NBA Draft, when the Rockets took Michael Dickerson 14th, Bryce Drew 16th and Mirsad Turkcan 18th overall. Dickerson averaged 10.9 points per game in one season with the Rockets before he was traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies for Steve Francis. But even though that pick led to something good, the other two picks were flops as well. Turkcan returned to Istanbul because of the lockout and never played for Houston, while Drew averaged a meager 4.7 points per game in two seasons with the Rockets.

2. John Lucas: Lucas was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1976 NBA Draft, but his best years in Houston wouldn’t come until he had bounced around the league a few times. Lucas was picked ahead of Hall of Famers like Adrian Dantley, Robert Parish and Alex English and only played with the Rockets for two seasons before being traded. In his defense, he was a part of the 1986 Rockets team that went to the Finals, but Houston only got him as part of a trade to bring him back and he was banished from the NBA the following season for his cocaine problem. That draft pick could’ve been better spent somewhere else.

1. Eddie Griffin: Any time you can trade three draft picks, one of which is Richard Jefferson, for a guy who will only play for your team for a total of two seasons, you have to do it! Oh wait. Maybe trading Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong for Eddie Griffin wasn’t such a great idea after all. The New Jersey Nets took Griffin seventh overall in the 2001 NBA Draft and the Rockets gave up their eight, 18th and 23rd picks to get him. Due to alcohol and drug issues, Griffin was released outright in 2003. Considering how good Richard Jefferson was for those Nets and the fact that Tony Parker was still on the board, this was a baffling decision for the Rockets.