With the Houston Rockets’ being a few seasons into their rebuild, they’ve managed to fill out an impressive stockpile of picks. The 2020’s have treated them well in that aspect.
After this upcoming draft in a couple of weeks, Houston will have full control over their next eight first round draft picks. They’ll also have some extra first rounders from other teams, thanks in particular to one clever trade from Rafael Stone.
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In the summer of 2024, the Brooklyn Nets agreed to a deal that would give them back their own 2025 and 2026 first round draft picks. They were down in the dumps and wanted to control their future a little sooner.
Brooklyn didn’t (and still doesn’t) have a very solid young core, and were hoping to hit a home run in the draft. Unfortunately for them, those picks only turned into Egor Demin (8th overall) and this year’s 6th pick. Not the top of the line selections they were hoping for.
In exchange, the Nets gave Houston control of the Phoenix Suns’ picks in 2025, 2027, and 2029. That 2025 pick was then returned to Phoenix a year later and used on Khaman Maluach, helping the Rockets get KD.
Now with Durant out of Phoenix, those 2027 and 2029 picks look even more valuable. The 2025 Suns pick was already 10th overall with KD on their roster.
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They obviously shocked the league last year, but I don’t think anyone would be surprised if they were a lottery team again in the near future. But just for good measure, Stone also got the right to swap with Dallas in 2029 as well.
The world is his oyster here, with a plethora of draft capital to play with. It should be interesting to see which route Houston’s front office decides to go.