Rockets will pick 14th for third straight year

Once again, there was no lottery magic for the Houston Rockets.

For the third straight season, the Rockets will pick 14th in the NBA Draft. Houston went into Wednesday’s NBA Draft Lottery having just a 1.8% chance of coming away with a top three pick, but the overwhelming odds won out yet again as the Rockets were called out first at 14.

The Rockets took Patrick Patterson with the 14th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft and selected Marcus Morris in the same spot in 2011.

The Rockets have another solid pick in the 16th selection (via New York from the T-Mac trade) and the team will almost assuredly try to package those picks to move up or acquire an established player.

The Southwest division also got tougher for the Rockets as the New Orleans Hornets won the lottery and are a lock to select Kentucky’s Anthony Davis in next month’s draft. Charlotte came away with the second pick and Washington the third. Some silver lining news for the Rockets was that the Brooklyn Nets did not win a top 3 pick, making it tougher for them to acquire a superstar via trade.