I'm sure this topic has already been discussed 9,000 times on here, so forgive me, but do we have a first round pick this year or not? I'm not certain on this, but I believe there is a rule that teams cannot trade their first round picks in back-to-back seasons so that's why i'm flustered over all of this.
You can't make a trade that leaves you with no first round pick in two consecutive drafts. Once the 2004 draft is complete the Rockets are free to trade their 2005 first rounder. But they couldn't have done so at the last February trade deadline because 2004 was "still on the books". Similarly, once the 2003 draft was completed the clock was reset and that allowed for the Rice trade to Utah.