One thing every NBA team has to be thankful for on Thanksgiving: Houston Rockets – Uh, well, this draft class is loaded
Let’s be real here. The Rockets knew, going into the season, that they had the potential to be a historically bad team. Having no true point guards and entrusting the team to low-efficiency, high volume gunners who can’t or can barely order a drink yet tends to do that.
But that’s ok! This season is important from a player development standpoint, but it was never supposed to be a competitive year. Instead, it’s about improving the chance for future success, and in that regard, things are looking bright!
Assuming Houston has the worst record in the league at year’s end, the Rockets have a 27.4% chance of getting a top-2 pick and can fall to no worse than fifth.
Conveniently, early projections see the 2022 class as a talented draft loaded with bigs, with an especially interesting top two players. Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren are both highly skilled centers with shooting touch, handles, and solid defensive instincts. They seem like they could be perfect fits next to Jalen Green and/or Kevin Porter next year.
Pretty much every team has to go through some rough patches to get back to competitive status. For the Rockets, at least, they are maximizing their chances of getting a generational talent at just the right time.