1. Anzejs Pasecniks, C, Latvia
Anzejs Pasecnikis is an intriguing prospect in this year’s draft. His stock appears to be all over the place. FanSided’s own The Step Back has Pasecniks as 16th on their big board, DraftExpress projects him to fall to the 29th pick and The Ringer mock drafts him to go 36th overall.
Based on those projections you may think that the Houston Rockets have no chance at him. You may be right. Or you may be wrong.
Houston Rockets
Whenever it comes to overseas players who aren’t likely to come to the NBA right away, the projections can vary greatly. If he does fall to the Rockets with the 43rd pick, he would be a complete steal.
Pasecniks stands 7’2″ and is extremely mobile for somebody his size. He does a great job of catching passes in traffic and can finish in the paint.
He has potential to be able to extend his shot to the three-point line someday as he can already shoot midrange jumpers. A 7’2″ center who can shoot threes would be Daryl Morey’s dream come true.
He can also put the ball on the floor and has some driving ability with either hand.
Defense is where Pasecniks has a lot of work to do. He has poor fundamentals on that end of the floor and can stand to learn a lot about how to play team defense. He’s also not a very good rim protector as he lacks length and explosiveness. Most of his defensive ability inside will come from drawing charges rather than sending back shots.
At the end of the day, the Rockets will count themselves lucky if they end up landing Anzejs Pasecniks.
Next: 2017 NBA Mock Draft: Post-Lottery edition
Overall, the Houston Rockets will be lucky to land any of these five prospects as they each bring their own intriguing mix of talent and skills to the hardwood.