Mock draft: If the Rockets buy a 2020 pick, who might they take?

Given recent indications that Houston may purchase a pick in the 2020 second round, take a look at Bryan Kalbrosky’s complete mock draft.

Last week, Houston GM Daryl Morey suggested that the Rockets might attempt to buy a pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Courtesy of RookieWire‘s Bryan Kalbrosky, here’s a look at some of their options with a complete two-round mock draft — updated for April 2020.

The Rockets have already traded away their own selections in both the first and second round, but Morey’s comments point to a possibility that they could eventually move their way back in. The cleanest route to doing so would likely involve buying a pick in the mid-to-late second round.

Each NBA team has a limited amount of cash that it can use to facilitate trades in a given league year. (This year, it’s ~$5.6 million per team.) Other than a small amount held up in escrow as part of the Russell Westbrook trade, the Rockets have the vast majority of that total still available for 2019-20, if owner Tilman Fertitta is willing to spend it.

Based on Morey’s comments to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, it appears Fertitta is willing to greenlight such a transaction:

Morey: We don’t currently have a pick, but we have a long history of buying them, which I think has a reasonable chance of happening. We also might have a trade to trade (into the draft.) Actually, having no pick ends up harder than having a pick. You normally don’t want to roster more than one to three rookies in a given year. We generally like to roster at least one because I think it is smart to always have a developmental pipeline going.

You’re preparing for a much wider list. You have to be ready to trade into the first round. You have to be ready to buy a pick. You have to be ready for the crush as teams chase undrafted players.

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Should the Rockets acquire a pick, it’s likely they would draft the player they see as the best available talent, as opposed to targeting any specific roster need that might change in the years ahead.

For example, even though the Rockets are currently well-stocked at guard with James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and Eric Gordon, their top undrafted free agent addition in 2019 was 5-foot-9 guard Chris Clemons.

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The Rockets did not buy a pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, but it was more that they couldn’t than wouldn’t. In that league year, nearly all of the team’s cash allotment was used in earlier trades to dump the contracts of Chinanu Onuaku, Michael Carter-Williams, and Carmelo Anthony. In contrast, most of their 2019-20 cash allotment remains available.

For a look at the possibilities, take a look through Kalbrosky’s complete 2020 NBA mock draft over at RookieWire.

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