Rockets win 2023 NBA draft tiebreaker with Spurs, lose on Clippers’ pick

The #Rockets won a potentially important tiebreaker with the Spurs involving their own 2023 first-round draft pick, though they finished last in a later tie involving the Clippers’ pick.

The Rockets won a potentially important tiebreaker over the Spurs involving their own 2023 first-round draft pick, though they finished last in a later tiebreaker involving the pick headed to Houston from the Los Angeles Clippers. The random drawings were held Monday and announced that afternoon by the NBA’s league office.

Both Houston and San Antonio finished this season at 22-60 and will have identical odds of securing one of the NBA’s top-four picks in the 2023 first round, to be determined by the May 16 draft lottery. However, the team entering the lottery in the No. 2 spot cannot fall below No. 6 overall and has a better probability of landing at No. 5, as well. The team entering at No. 3 can drop as low as No. 7 overall.

By virtue of winning the tiebreaker, Houston enters the lottery in the No. 2 position, which provides a “pick floor” — i.e. the worst-case scenario — of having its pick land at No. 6 in the first round.

On the other end of the spectrum, the pick headed from the Clippers to the Rockets as part of the Eric Gordon trade finished last in three-way tiebreaker involving the Heat and Warriors (all three finished at 44-38). After that random drawing, Miami is at No. 18, Golden State at No. 19, and Houston (via Los Angeles) at No. 20 overall.

But for the Rockets, it was still a good day on the balance, since a pick higher in the first-round order is inherently of greater importance. The complete press release from the league office, which also includes information on other tiebreakers, can be read below.

[lawrence-related id=113247,113100]

[mm-video type=video id=01gy8gbmdpghw4dgbwfy playlist_id=none player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gy8gbmdpghw4dgbwfy/01gy8gbmdpghw4dgbwfy-68d672a023b366c550a43f1391d6d494.jpg]