Houston Rockets: Team aiming high to trade into 2019 NBA Draft

The Houston Rockets currently have no draft picks for 2019 but they have plans to trade back in and are aiming for a Top 20 pick. Will it happen? Look.

The Houston Rockets are creating yet another wave of offseason news in regard to their plans in such an important period for the franchise.  There’s no question that the earlier-than-expected exit of the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Semifinals left a bad taste in many mouths, including franchise employees and fans alike.

But that’s what this time of the year is all about — being able to review what went wrong, make improvements, tweak the formula a bit and hope for the best by the time training camp starts.

It sounds simple, doesn’t it?  Well, unfortunately, there can only be one crowned champion out of the NBA’s 30 teams while the remaining 29 will be working in the offseason to evaluate what went wrong.  The champion will be more concerned about continuity and how they can get even better than they were the season previous.

That has been the mantra of the Golden State Warriors since the 2014-15 season; and finally, because of all the challenges of injuries that they had, a new champion has been christened.  Congratulations to the Toronto Raptors for toppling over a respected dynasty while trying to create a legacy of their own.  It’s way too early to ask but are the Raptors one-and-done?  We’ll have to see what Kawhi Leonard‘s decision will be but it’s not out the question that they can repeat with a few tweaks.

Anyway, while that’s going, the Houston Rockets are still trying to join the fun of being a part of the NBA Draft, to which they’ve been sidelined as a result of them giving up their first-rounder this season to rid themselves of Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss and their second-rounder went to the New York Knicks a few seasons back in the Pablo Prigioni/Alexey Shved trade.

As always, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey refuses to be on the outside looking in and wants to be a direct participant in anything integral that would be able to improve the team that has been created from his brain trust.

Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders writes that the team feels that they can land a Top-20 pick and have suggested to participating player representation as such.

Is this something that is likely going to happen?  I wouldn’t doubt it as Morey has been able to get some nice finds in the draft, even the second round.  De’Anthony Melton, last year’s second-rounder, was flipped to the Phoenix Suns in order to rid themselves of Ryan Anderson‘s humongous $20 million per season contract.  I would’ve loved to see how he would’ve panned out with the Houston Rockets but this is a business and moves will be made to win the ultimate battle of trying to stay on the top of one’s game.

With the rumors continuing to buzz about Clint Capela possibly being traded elsewhere, the

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Houston Rockets may need to start grooming another power forward/center that can fit will in this system.

But with Mike D’Antoni‘s future being up the air, it remains to be seen what system this team will be employing over the next few seasons.  However, I do see D’Antoni coaching this team for at least the next two seasons so the mindset that has grown on most of us will be something that we’ll expect to see.

I’m not sure if the Houston Rockets will have enough goods to try to trade up for Tacko Fall (UCF) or Bol Bol (Oregon) but I think it’s worth a shot.  I’ve seen these guys play a bit as both of their respective teams were opponents of my beloved University of Houston Cougars basketball team’s schedule this past season.

But more than likely, they’ll trade up for a dynamic guard as this system is predicated on being centric on that particular position.

Let’s keep an eye out for that development!

Keep on trucking Houston Rockets.

The NBA Draft is scheduled for next Thursday, June 20 at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.  The event will be televised and streamed on ESPN.