So much was at stake for the Houston Rockets in the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery.
Despite being the team with the worst record in the league, the Rockets were faced with the threat of falling all the way down to the 18th pick (yes, seriously) if they did not land one of the lottery-drawn top-four picks, something that had a 48% chance of happening. The Oklahoma City Thunder held top-four protected draft swap rights on the Rockets pick from the dreaded Chris Paul-Russell Westbrook trade in 2019 and had the right to swap Miami’s pick (#18) for Houston’s.
Those swap rights turned to dust for OKC Tuesday night as the Rockets reeled in the #2 pick of the Draft.
David Weiner (Twitter | ClutchFans) and Dave Hardisty hop on the podcast to discuss Houston’s big moment:
- The absolute relief of landing in the top four of the NBA Draft
- The #2 pick: Evan Mobley, Jalen Green or Jalen Suggs?
- Dodging the Ben Simmons bullet, but should they be interested now?
- Draft trade possibilities
- The Rockets plan to be a “mid-level team” and operate over the cap