A flurry of rival trades snatched two key center prospects away, forcing Rafael Stone to flip Houston’s second-round assets for cash after their draft board collapsed.
Following the highly anticipated first night of the NBA Draft, teams like the Houston Rockets were much more interested in Round 2. After all, they didn’t have any first round picks this year.
After trading up to get Bruce Thornton with the 31st pick, as reviewed on Roundtable, Rafael Stone probably didn’t have much thinking to do with the next pick. Initially having the 53rd pick, they were now only two spots lower at 55th. No big deal, right?
The night was going according to plan all the way up until the 52nd pick, but that’s when Henri Veesaar finally went off the board. I truly believe this is one of the two centers that Houston had their eye on, and he went one pick ahead of where they’d originally be selecting.
Even more heartbreaking, the Atlanta Hawks actually traded up from 57th to make that selection, leapfrogging the Rockets. All hope wasn’t lost yet though, as Ugonna Onyenso was still on the board.
As covered on Roundtable, he was a very intriguing young center with Clint Capela and Steven Adams aging. I think the Rockets’ front office took a big blow when their original pick (53rd) was used to select the Nigerian big man, ultimately ruining their plans.
With both bigs removed from the board, Houston immediately turned to move off of their pick at 55. I don’t think the timing was a coincidence at all. They’d rather take cash considerations over an unwanted player, and I can respect that.
