Complete grades for all 30 teams in the 2019 NBA Draft
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets were not present at the 2019 NBA Draft, having traded away their first round pick earlier in the year in an attempt to dethrone the Golden State Warriors through an added veteran presence.
The player added at the deadline was Iman Shumpert, an athletic 3-and-D wing who certainly has experience in matching up with Golden State as a member of the 2016 NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
Shumpert seemed to be an ideal acquisition in Mike D’Antoni‘s system, a guy who would play hard-nosed defense and happily spot up in the corner. Alas, the experiment didn’t work, as Shumpert averaged just 19.1 minutes per game in large part due to his lack of outside shooting at a laughable 29.6 percent.
Sources tell @TheAthleticHOU that #Rockets have agreed to terms with Chris Clemons (5’9, Campbell), who is 3rd all-time in scoring for NCAA division one basketball. He will play in Summer-League. He was one of the first players to work out for Houston early in the draft process.
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) June 21, 2019
In the playoffs, that figure rose to a respectable 36.4 percent, but Shumpert still had not earned the trust of his head coach and was thus only given 13.1 minutes of nightly action.
He had been brought in to help possibly elevate the Rockets to the Finals and fill the gap left by Trevor Ariza. Instead, Shumpert cost Houston a valuable first round pick that could’ve been of great use for a team in need of cheap talent to help round out the roster.
Grade: F