Rafael Stone has never kept a second-round pick, but looming salary cap constraints may force the Rockets to finally embrace depth over draft-night trades this offseason.
Throughout Rafael Stone’s six seasons as the Rockets general manager, there’s still one surprising thing he’s yet to do. In the whole rebuild process, he’s yet to draft a second round draft pick and give them a roster spot.
It makes sense to some degree, as they were prioritizing top picks. In other words, they were tanking. That’s how you get Jalen Green, Alperen Şengün, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, and Jabari Smith Jr.
At some point, those second round draft picks are valuable though. Just take a look at the list on Basketball-Reference. Montrezl Harrell and Isaiah Hartenstein both showed their value in Houston, then went on to be even better.
De’Anthony Melton and Dillon Brooks were Rockets’ picks that ultimately got traded away, but turned into very solid role players with Memphis.
In the past two seasons, Houston has traded away their lone second rounders. Jahmai Mashack got more playing time than any 59th pick could expect, due to the injuries in Memphis. Pelle Larson has turned into another solid role player with Miami.
While they’re nothing to write home about, those low value contracts could really be helpful for a team strapped against the cap like Houston. With the 39th and 53rd picks in the 2026 draft, I think it’d be really wise to actually use them this time.
It’d be the first time in Rafael Stone’s career, but there’s no time like the present. After sitting around and making no changes throughout the season, let’s hope there’s a complete 180 in the offseason, starting on draft night.