Assuming the Rockets keep the pick, or if it is used it as part of a package to trade up, the No. 17 overall selection (via Brooklyn) in Thursday’s 2022 NBA draft will be Houston’s first potentially long-term player acquired from the controversial James Harden trade in January 2021.
Going forward, it certainly won’t be the last. And that choice by general manager Rafael Stone is looking less controversial by the day.
The Rockets own either Brooklyn’s first-round pick or a right to swap first-round picks with the Nets in each of the next five years, through 2027. With the Nets reeling from Harden’s midseason departure in February 2022 and uncertainty over Kyrie Irving’s next contract, the outlook for those assets has never been better, from a Houston perspective.
