After a three-hour wait, the Rockets were finally able to make their one and only move in the NBA draft Thursday night. The Rockets were without a first-round selection for the first time since 1996, and tried to make the most of their No. 44 selection by choosing 6-11, 230 pound Malick Badiane, a 19-year-old from Senegal. "It took us a while to get up to the plate this year, but I think we wound up with a real fortunate pick," Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said. "Malick is very raw. He's only played on year of pro basketball. But he's very athletic, he runs the floor real well, he can shoot and shot block, and his offense is coming along real well." Dawson said he saw a lot of potential in Badiane, but his immediate impact is still unsure. There is a possibility that Badiane will remain overseas for at least one more year to hone his skills, but Dawson said he has not yet talked about that possibility with Badiane's agent. Badiane is expected to join the team next month for the Los Angeles Summer Pro league. "No problem, I can go there," Badiane said in a phone interview from New York. "I'm ready for it. I'm pretty happy. I hope to help the team." With Langen, Badiane averaged 11.7 points and 8.9 rebounds. He averaged only 23.4 minutes in 29 games, but proved to be a threat on the boards as he led Germany's second-division league with 258 total rebounds. Badiane grew up in Senegal and only joined Langen in April 2002. His raw talent was quickly evident, however. With his tall frame and long arms, scouts say he has a knack for snatching rebounds away from his body and also shows great timing in shot blocking. Langen is a farm team for the Opel Skyliners, a team in Germany's top division. "He's not played a whole lot of years of basketball," Dawson said. "He played one year of pro basketball and he made tremendous strides. We saw him a few times throughout the season, in two camps and in tryouts here. We felt that he'd go earlier." After nearly three hours of waiting for the 44th pick to arrive, Dawson worried about the pool of players they would still have to choose from. Dawson said he was pleased with the options the team had to choose from, however. The Rockets had kept their options open throughout the draft to trade for a higher pick, but Dawson said no teams ever called.
