Rockets get painful reminder of massive 2021 draft blunder

The Houston Rockets have drafted a lot in recent years - and generally, they've drafted well.

Generally. They haven't been perfect. The 2021 draft is particularly instructive. The Rockets made a whopping four selections in that class. Picking Jalen Green ahead of Evan Mobley remains controversial. By contrast, trading for Alperen Sengun at the 16th pick has been universally hailed as a stroke of genius.

Otherwise, the Rockets walked away with Usman Garuba and Josh Christopher. They were both (along with 2022 draftee TyTy Washington) unceremoniously jettisoned to a Hawks team that cut them two summers ago when the Rockets had to make space for Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks.

Garuba is no longer in the league. Josh Christopher is on the peripheral. That's fine. Players picked late in the first round are as likely to fall out of the league as they are to succeed - if not more so. Still, there was a player available in that range who is making noise.

On Monday, he made quite a ruckus in Houston.

Potential draft choice hangs career high on Rockets

Yes. This article is mourning what could have been with Quentin Grimes.

In Houston on Monday, he had 46 points and 13 rebounds. Grimes was a blistering 8/14 from long-range. It was a painful reminder of what could - should - have been for the Rockets.

Sure, hindsight is 20/20. That won't fly in this case. When the Rockets selected Christopher with the 24th pick, Grimes was widely regarded as the best guard available. It felt as if Houston prioritized Christopher's pre-existing relationship with Green.

That's speculative, but it's a bit difficult to explain why the Rockets passed on Grimes otherwise. Either way, it was a blunder. Christopher is averaging 3.5 minutes per game across the 8 games he's played with the Heat's main roster this year. He is largely a G-League guy. By contrast, Grimes is shooting 13.2 points per game while shooting 39.6% from three and playing solid defense.

It gets worse...

Rockets passed on hometown hero

Grimes is from Houston!

Let that sink in. He was the best guard available. He is - and I can't stress this enough - from Houston.

The Rockets have built a roster that does everything well besides shooting threes. Grimes is a shooter who defends with enough gumption to stay on the floor for Ime Udoka.

By God, he's perfect.

It's worth noting that Grimes is a Restricted Free Agent this summer. The Rockets could theoretically acquire him, but it feels unlikely. Someone will offer him a relatviely large deal, and the Sixers will likely match it anyway.

Houston doesn't have excess cap room to play with unless they turn down Fred VanVleet's team option. That's not something they'll do for the sake of Grimes. There is likely some deft maneuvering that could be done to add Grimes, but the odds of him landing on the Rockets are slim.

More broadly, the Rockets passed on the opportunity to keep Grimes under team control for a significant length of time. They burned two picks in his general draft range on two players who aren't on the Rockets, and are barely (if at all) in the NBA.

Thankfully, they don't make those types of mistakes often.