Rival's puzzling draft night is a massive blessing for the Rockets

The Houston Rockets need the Nets to make bad decisions. On draft night, they did just that.

It was the most Houston could hope for. They didn't have a pick in the first round of the 2025 NBA draft. OK, technically, they did. Isn't it awkward to see Khaman Maluach in Rockets red, knowing that he's heading to the Suns?

That was a homerun pick, much to Houston's chagrin. It could negatively impact their future Suns selections. Luckily, they own picks from the Nets as well.

They had a potentially disastrous draft night.

Rockets' rivals make series of questionable choices

The Nets had an insane 5 selections in the first round. They used them all.

The consensus is that they generally didn't use them well.

It all starts with BYU's Egor Demin at 8. Listen - the most well-researched draft nerd is not clairvoyant. Nobody knows how these guys will work out. Let's be charitable and say there are questions about Demin:

Questions like, can he score?

Demin is a project. He's 6'9" and an undeniably great passer, but his NBA viability remains questionable. The same could be said for Ben Saraf, whom the Nets picked at 26th. It seems the Nets weren't satisfied with one jumbo playmaker with no jump shot and defensive concerns.

Did somebody say defensive concerns? Meet the Nets' 27th pick, Danny Wolf. In fairness, Wolf was an excellent gamble at 27th. He's got far more potential than a player you'll typically find in that spot. Still, his defensive limitations may keep him off the floor in the NBA.

The opposite is true for the 22nd pick, Drake Powell. He's among the better perimeter defenders in this class, but he was an offensive liability at North Carolina. Should the Nets be confident that he'll change that narrative in the NBA?

The safest pick Brooklyn made was Nolan Traore at 19th. Questions about his ability to score also linger, but he's a strong athlete with a high motor. Traore is also a good passer. He should be able to carve out a spot in NBA rotations, whether he's a starter or not.

The same can't be confidently said for the rest of Brooklyn's picks.

Rockets' rivals' future remains unclear

Again, nobody is claiming clairvoyance.

It could be, in hindsight, that the Nets crushed this draft. That said, the Rockets aren't concerned about their five-year window.

They just need the Nets to be bad in two seasons.

The Rockets have swap rights on the Nets' 2027 first-rounder. Let's circle back to Demin. If he's going to be a good NBA player, it's exceedingly likely to take a few years. If he's the type of sophomore who impacts winning, it will shock draft pundits. The same holds for Saraf.

Wolf is the wild card. His offensive game is polished enough to believe that he could be a contributor quickly. The Rockets' best hope is that his defensive limitations are so substantial that the Nets can't rely on him as a high-minute player for some time.

Even in a best-case scenario, Powell is a role player. If the Nets are hinging their short-term hopes on Traore, those hopes are bleak. The bottom line is that the Nets had five first-round picks and walked away without a player who's likely to keep them out of the lottery in 2027.

Who knows? The Nets may intend to trade everyone and the remainder of their future picks for a star. That doesn't change the fact that their draft was panned, which means they walked away with less (perceived value) than they could have. That will make trading for a star more difficult. The Nets didn't do themselves any favors on draft night:

But they sure helped the Rockets out.