What is the protection on our first round pick this year?

this is sorta the same situation miami had last season...
despite having dragic wade deng whiteside they missed the playoffs
& wound up with a Justice Winslow

 

Rockets are on course to finish 27-55. That's top five pick territory, though anyone not in the top three can slip, right?

 

if we manage to offload some role players, i think we can stay in the top half of the lotto.

i'd hold onto ariza so we can make another run next year, but beverley, brewer, and jones have to go.

beverley and brewer cant be traded until Jan.15, but jones can be traded whenever, but they will probably hold onto him until the deadline before deciding they dont want to pay him in free agency.

with the role players out of the way you can start letting the young guys 'earn' playing time. the rotation can look something like:

dwight (28) - capela (20)
dmo (24) - harrell (24)
ariza (30) - dekker (14)
harden (34) - mcdaniels (18)
terry (24) - lawson (24)

i think we can easily get a top 5 pick. there is no catching the sixers, and the nets and lakers aren't too far behind, but if we did the above plan we could conceivably finish as high as 4th or 5th pick.