As we all know, the Houston Rockets are still the protagonists in this summer's NBA draft, they have two first-round draft picks, one is the Rockets' own high-pick picks, and the other is the Rockets' trade through Harden, the nets in exchange for the draft picks, it is not yet known how the picks are. However, looking at the Nets' Eastern Conference rankings, the Rockets' first-round pick should eventually fall into the 14-20 pick.
With more than 10 games left in the regular season to end, the Nets' rankings won't have too many ups and downs, so the Rockets' draft pick looks like a very good value. The Rockets had three first-round picks at last summer's draft pick, and they traded for the Thunder's 16-pick center Shen Jing, so that the Rockets have a total of four first-round rookies this season.
While the Rockets' first-round picks this summer weren't as good as last season's, both teams were of high quality. Coupled with the first-class draft vision of the Rockets management, I believe that these two signing positions will not be wasted. After the Rockets lost to the Lone Rangers, coupled with the Magic team competing with the Rockets for the league's penultimate position to win, the Rockets once again became the worst team in the league. The Top 5 picks in the first round of the Rockets' draft this summer are basically guaranteed, but what will the Nets pick fall in?
Although this summer is not a big draft year, there are also a lot of outstanding interior players for the Rockets to choose from. The Nets have recently won two consecutive wins, and the Clippers are ranked 8th in the West after losing to the Hawks, so the Nets' first-round pick has also dropped from the previous 14 pick to the current 16 pick. For the Rockets, the Nets' pick is naturally the higher the better, but unfortunately the Nets have been in good shape recently, and under the leadership of Irving and Durant, the Nets even beat the 76ers.
After two consecutive wins, the Nets' record has also slowly returned to the 8th place in the East from 10th in the East. In this way, the current Rockets' Nets pick should be the 16th pick in the first round. Maybe this alignment is out of touch with the supernova, but from the rocket's point of view, it can still play a role. After all, last summer, the Thunder used the First Round No. 16 pick to remove Turkish center Alperen Shenjing, which shows that the draft pick in the middle of the first round is still of great value - it depends on whether you have vision.
The Nets naturally don't want to lose, after all, they need a higher Eastern Conference ranking, so they are fighting for their own victory and are also very contentious to get 2 consecutive wins. For the Rockets, the Nets naturally lose as much as possible, and in addition, the Nets' competitors have to win more.
Then in the next 10 or so games, the Rockets can completely "actively lose" and send assists when encountering the Nets' Eastern rivals to help these teams get better records, thus pulling the Nets down the ranking. While not glamorous, for the Rockets, a higher pick also means that the rebuild can be successful more quickly. While a little sorry for the Nets, the Rockets reaped a lot of benefits.
This season, the Rockets will also play against the Hawks, Raptors, and Wizards in the East, and will also play another game with the Nets, which are crucial, especially against the Nets, and the Rockets will definitely go all out to win the opponent. In this way, the Rockets' first-round signing is more valuable.