2. Houston Rockets Jalen Green | 6-6 guard | 19 years old | G League Ignite No change here from last week, either. Green remains the name I’ve heard most with the Rockets. The Rockets desperately need explosive talent, regardless of how it “fits.” There is no discussion of “fit” when you don’t have the guy already on the roster. The Rockets are in desperate need of a centerpiece, and Green is about as good of a scoring prospect as I’ve scouted in the last eight years. He’ll be a 20-plus-point-per-game scorer in his career, with a real chance to be a top-five scorer in the NBA at his peak. Range: No. 2-3 23. Houston Rockets (via POR) Isaiah Jackson | 6-10 center | 19 years old, freshman | Kentucky Another relatively wide range, if only due to the fact that he’s a big. I’ve never really bought the lottery hype for Jackson, but teams do like him as an interesting long-term center option. He’s 6-foot-10 with a 7-foot-3 wingspan and all sorts of twitchy explosiveness. He is the prototypical run-and-jump, play-finishing, shot-swatting center prospect and has the athleticism to legitimately do it. Having said that, these Rockets picks are seen throughout the industry as places for the fallers on draft night to end up — either via the Rockets selecting high-upside players to join their rebuild or via trades, as the team is thought to be active in the trade market with these selections. One thing worth noting in that respect: I wouldn’t be surprised to see this as a spot where a team tries to move up to leap a few teams within the last five picks in order to take Joshua Primo. 24. Houston Rockets (via MIL) Jalen Johnson | 6-8 forward | 19 years old, freshman | Duke Speaking of fallers to land with the Rockets here, come on down, Jalen Johnson. I’ve referenced throughout the draft process that his range is extremely wide and that teams are not quite as enamored with him as the previous lottery projections would have had you believe. There has not been a point this season where I had Johnson in the lottery on my personal board. It’s possible he could end up in the latter portion of the lottery if some team like Indiana decides to take a flier, but I think I would be pretty surprised at this point. He does have real skill, and he’s worthy of a first-round pick. But even taking away some of the questions teams have about him and his departures from IMG Academy and Duke over the last couple of years, even Johnson’s game was not particularly awesome this year, given his questionable shooting and lackadaisical defensive effort at times. His range is wide on draft night.
How much do you think things will change in the first round between now & the draft? MS: Teams for the most part have their big board set to some degree. The biggest thing that could change things is trades. … I have a good sense the way we see things in the top 10 or so seems solid. First pick, how solid are we with Cunningham? MS: I think pretty solid. Vegas has this one right. I think Cunningham will ultimately be the guy. Even if say Detroit is more interested in Mobley or Green and wants to swap with Houston and Houston moves up to take Cunningham. I think Cunningham will go #1 regardless. I feel 99% confident about that. Detroit is doing their due diligence. Don’t think it’s anything more than that. Two Houston, Green? MS: All indications I’m hearing are Jalen Green at two to the Rockets. They’re looking for a star and someone who can excite the fan base. Pretty much almost starting from scratch. Don’t fully know what they’ll do at some other picks but you hear Green is pretty locked in at number two. Feel confident those two top and even top three is set in stone. Mobley at three, those three are pretty solid. MS: They would love to have a player of that caliber. This has been the order for almost 2 years now. Jonathan Givony has had this exact top 3 for the last 18 months. That’s how it’s been and what I expect on draft day. [… …]
Listening to the Draft Deeper podcast, they had Green, Garuba and Cooper coming to the Rockets. Pretty happy with that draft too.
