Best known as “March Madness,” the annual NCAA Men’s Division 1 Basketball Tournament (bracket) begins on Thursday, March 17. For fans of losing NBA teams, like the 2021-22 Houston Rockets, there is understandably significant intrigue over the next three weeks.
From an NBA perspective, how prospects perform under the bright lights and versus elite competition are among the key variables when it comes to projecting their likely upside at the highest level. Thus, for teams with major draft assets, March Madness is a crucial evaluation period.
In 2022, one of those teams with major stakes in the upcoming NBA draft is clearly the Houston Rockets. Not only do the Rockets (17-51) hold the league’s worst record entering Wednesday’s games, but they also have a second first-round pick headed their way from Brooklyn — and it could be better than expected, since the Nets (36-33) have struggled for much of this season with injuries and absences.
It’s possible that Brooklyn’s pick could even end up in the lottery, since the Nets are currently in a spot where they have to make it through the Eastern Conference’s play-in tournament just to make the playoffs.
Prior to the start of March Madness, here’s a look at who the latest wave of NBA mock drafts projects the Rockets to select with those two picks (Houston and Brooklyn). When the tournament concludes in early April, we’ll do another roundup for comparison purposes.
Presenting your #Rockets Big Board 1.0 — where things stand with the franchise as the regular season winds down and March Madness heats up.
Chet? Banchero? Smith? Does it even matter?
New for @TheAthletic w/ @Sam_Vecenie https://t.co/iaferQtfI8
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIkoNBA) March 16, 2022
