The Houston Rockets have already traded away their picks in both the first round and second round of the 2020 NBA Draft. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t eventually trade their way back in.
Per veteran Minneapolis journalist Darren Wolfson, the Rockets are currently on the interview list for former University of Minnesota center Daniel Oturu — who is projected at roughly No. 30 overall, according to the latest aggregate NBA mock draft from HoopsHype.
That’s interesting for multiple reasons. First, with Oturu potentially a first-round selection, it would seem rather unlikely that he’d slide out of the draft altogether and be available as an undrafted free agent. So if the Rockets are interviewing him, it would appear to suggest that GM Daryl Morey is considering scenarios of acquiring a 2020 draft pick.
Among teams on ex-#Gophers big Daniel Oturu's Combine interview list: the #Rockets, a team w/o a 2020 draft pick. Conjecture, but hard to not think that Morey will call his old colleague Rosas and inquire about 17 or 33. Rockets have already interviewed many prospects like Nnaji.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) October 7, 2020
Second, it’s noteworthy that the 6-foot-10, 240-pound Oturu is a center. Oturu averaged 20.1 points (56.3% FG), 11.3 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game last season, and it would seem to signal that the notoriously undersized Rockets might be open to larger lineups in the future.
Oturu does have some range and potential as a “stretch big,” having shot 36.5% on 3-pointers last season. However, it remains to be seen how that might translate from the shorter college line to the NBA.
Here’s how Rookie Wire describes Oturu in their latest Big Board:
Daniel Oturu was ridiculously productive during his sophomore campaign for Minnesota. It is “extremely tough” to predict Oturu’s draft range because executives are “all over the map” about him, per The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie. Scouts may not love what they see from Oturu’s mechanics but it is certainly impossible to deny how much he was able to accomplish on the court.
Per Wolfson, the Rockets have also interviewed many other draftable prospects, such as 6-foot-11 Arizona forward Zeke Nnaji. Like Oturu, Nnaji could also fill the “stretch big” role. Per Rookie Wire:
One of the players who improved his draft stock the most during his freshman season was Arizona big man Zeke Nnaji. The Pac-12 Rookie of the Year averaged 16.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game and could provide positional depth for the Philadelphia 76ers in the frontcourt. His shooting is projected to be better in the NBA than it was in the NCAA.
Nnaji was at No. 34 on the most recent aggregate mock draft, in the same range as Oturu. As Wolfson noted, the Wolves have the No. 17 and No. 33 overall picks. They could be a logical trade partner for the Rockets, given the long history and working relationship between Morey and Minnesota’s president of basketball operations, Gersson Rosas.
Rosas was Houston’s No. 2 executive (after Morey) for years. Since taking Minnesota’s lead job last year, Morey and Rosas worked together on the blockbuster four-team trade in February involving Robert Covington.
The 2020 NBA Draft will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 18. The Rockets do have most of their cash allotment for the 2019-20 league year still available, which could help facilitate a deal. That might especially be the case in 2020 given the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hurt many owners financially and reportedly could lead to more picks being up for sale.
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2020 aggregate NBA mock draft 7.0: Analyzing the most common teams for prospects. https://t.co/nCzIO6RFia
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) September 5, 2020
