Heading into the May 17 lottery to determine the top picks in the 2022 NBA draft, the Rockets are guaranteed a top-five selection. But the odds are 47.9% — in other words, a near-coin flip — that Houston’s pick will be at No. 5 overall (pick odds), rather than one of the top-four lottery slots.
That could be problematic, in that the 2022 draft pool has long had a clear top four in Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren, Auburn’s Jabari Smith, Duke’s Paolo Banchero, and Purdue’s Jaden Ivey. But an announcement Thursday could potentially be turning the “big four” into a “big five,” and thus securing peak value for the Rockets regardless of lottery results.
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, Kentucky freshman Shaedon Sharpe will declare for the 2022 draft and stay in. According to Rivals and 247 Sports, Sharpe was the No. 3 overall recruit in the 2021 high-school class, trailing only Holmgren and Banchero in the final rankings.
