Should Houston Rockets try to move up in 2016 NBA Draft?

With the 2016 NBA draft lottery complete teams know the order, but more importantly teams like the Houston Rockets can begin the process of deciding whether to make trades to get in on the action.

It’s an all too familiar refrain in Houston that the move to bring Nuggets point guard to Houston last summer was a total failure. Not only did the diminutive Lawson fail to upgrade the starting core his regression was shocking. Worst, the trade that brought him from Denver to Houston ended up being far more costly especially when the Rockets made the playoffs.

There remains a solid argument that scraping to make the post season was a futile exercise given the Rockets won a single game and by virtue of doing so cost them their first round pick.

As the dust settles from the draft on Tuesday May 17th, the order has now been cemented:

First Round 1 order:

1. Philadelphia2. Los Angeles Lakers3. Boston (From Brooklyn)4. Phoenix5. Minnesota6. New Orleans7. Denver (From New York)8. Sacramento 9. Toronto (From Denver via New York)10. Milwaukee11. Orlando12. Utah13. Phoenix (From Washington)14. Chicago15. Denver (From Houston)16. Boston (From Dallas)17. Memphis 18. Detroit19. Denver (From Portland)20. Indiana21. Atlanta22. Charlotte23. Boston24. Philadelphia (From Miami via Cleveland)25. Los Angeles Clippers26. Philadelphia (From Oklahoma City via Denver and Cleveland)27. Toronto28. Phoenix (From Cleveland via Boston)29. San Antonio30. Golden State

Second Round Order

Notably Houston Rockets first pick is 37th in the second round and select again a few picks later at 43rd.

31. Boston (From Philadelphia via Miami)32. Los Angeles Lakers33. Los Angeles Clippers (From Brooklyn)34. Phoenix35. Boston (From Minnesota via Phoenix)36. Milwaukee (From New Orleans via Sacramento)37. Houston (From New York via Sacramento and Portland)38. Milwaukee39. New Orleans (From Denver via Philadelphia)40. New Orleans (From Sacramento)41. Orlando42. Utah43. Houston44. Atlanta (From Washington)45. Boston (From Memphis via Dallas)46. Dallas47. Orlando (From Chicago)48. Chicago (From Portland via Cleveland)49. Detroit50. Indiana51. Boston (From Miami)52. Utah (From Boston via Memphis)53. Denver (From Charlotte via Oklahoma City)54. Atlanta55. Brooklyn (From Los Angeles Clippers)56. Denver (From Oklahoma City)57. Memphis (From Toronto)58. Boston (From Cleveland)59. Sacramento (From San Antonio)60. Utah (From Golden State)

Leading up to the draft which occurs on June 23rd Space City Scoop takes a look at the prospects via the SCS Draft Prospect Series. Specifically, the writers provide the top lines of the prospects and decide whether they would be a good fit in Houston and whether GM Daryl Morey should consider trading assets to pursue obtaining a specific prospect.

To wit, following the draft last night which highlights the top 14 picks (generally the teams who don’t make the post season though Boston (3) and Toronto (9) made the cut given savvy trades) SCS offers the first 14 draft prospect profiles for your perusal. Though pundits rank the prospects differently the following list of links represents the consensus top 13 picks and a player (Tyler Ulis) who may be a possibility for the Rockets first pick. SCS will endeavor to provide the other 46 top ranked player prospects prior to June 23rd.

The Editor’s feeling is by the time the draft occurs Brandon Ingram will move to the top spot, but for now most pundits rank him as the second overall pick. I’ll update the series below tomorrow as Curt Low provides Ingram’s profile piece. Here are the links to the other 13 prospect profiles:

Next: Prospect: Ben Simmons

Next: Prospect: Dragan Bender

Next: Prospect: Jaylen Brown

Next: Prospect: Buddy Hield

Next: Prospect: Jamal Murray

Next: Prospect: Jakob Poeltl

Next: Prospect: Kris Dunn

Next: Prospect: Henry Ellenson

Next: Prospect: Deyonta Davis

Next: Prospect: Skal Labissiere

Next: Prospect: Marquesse Chriss

Next: Prospect: Furkan Korkmaz

Next: Prospect: Tyler Ulis

Be sure to check out our continuing Draft Prospect Series and our Year End Player Reviews!

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