Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, coach Stephen Silas celebrate No. 2 pick

Since Houston had a 48% chance of having its top draft pick fall to No. 18 overall, both Fertitta and Silas were thrilled by the result.

Entering Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery, the Rockets had nearly a 50-50 chance of seeing their top pick in the first round fall to No. 18 overall. (It all traced back to a top-four-protected pick swap from the Chris Paul-Russell Westbrook trade with Oklahoma City in 2019.) Considering that Houston just finished the 2020-21 season with the league’s worst record, that would have been quite a dire scenario.

Fortunately for the Rockets, that’s not something they have to worry about, any longer. Houston landed the No. 2 overall pick in Tuesday’s 2021 lottery, and general manager Rafael Stone was understandably excited in his post-lottery press conference with reporters.

To no surprise, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta and head coach Stephen Silas had similarly joyful reactions. Courtesy of Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston, here’s what both men had to say on Tuesday night.

Fertitta:

It’s huge because we didn’t give up any assets we had and now we got a #2 pick. We just need to take advantage of the opportunity to be fortunate like this and have a No. 2 pick. I have the utmost confidence in Rafael [Stone] and our basketball operations people to maximize the pick, whether we take a player or do something with it.

Of Tuesday’s whirlwind of emotions, Silas said:

It was nerve-racking. Oh man, it was so nerve-racking. We were going down each pick as it was coming through. Obviously, when we got to the five, it was a little bit of a sigh of relief, and then they went to commercial. So we were top four, and we were happy to get number two, but it was definitely nerve-racking.

It’s helpful. You don’t want to put too much into a young kid, but it’s helpful. It’s a building block, and it’s something we can add to what we have and be excited about. We’re happy that we got the No. 2 pick.

“It’s exciting,” Silas told Berman. “There was a possibility that we wouldn’t even have a lottery pick. So once we got past five, it was gravy. It was super exciting. It’s good for the organization, good for the fans. We’re gonna get a good player, which is great.”

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