Our staff writers will share news and insights from the NBA draft throughout Thursday night.
7:37 p.m. — The Pistons have to be loving life.
A year ago, they chose Cade Cunningham with the first pick, getting a fantastic building block but passing on the explosive, high-ceiling talents of Jalen Green.
On Thursday, they picked up Jaden Ivey, a player with Green-level athleticism, giving the Pistons a potentially sensational backcourt of players that complement each other phenomenally well. — Jonathan Feigen
Rockets accelerate rebuild
7:36 p.m. — The Rockets drafted to No. 1 last year, taking Jalen Green at No. 2.
Jabari Smith, widely expected to be the No. 1 overall selection in Thursday’s draft, suddenly fell into the Rockets’ hands at No. 3.
This is how you fast track your rebuild.
This is how you reconnect with your scattered fanbase.
This is how you re-electrify Toyota Center, the offseason after finishing with the NBA’s worst record for the second consecutive season.
The Rockets’ defense instantly improved with Smith being added to Stephen Silas’ young roster.
Now the supposed No. 1 pick of 2022 can prove them wrong with the Rockets, who need all the talent they can get and just added a potential star to pair with Green. — Brian T. Smith
Rockets get a No. 1 player at No. 3
7:32 p.m. — We may never know who the Rockets would have chosen had they landed the first pick of the draft. No one would argue or doubt them if they say it would have been Jabari Smith Jr.
Smith was the popular choice of many to go first regardless of the team that held the right to choose him, with shooting range and defensive intensity and switch-ability ideal for the modern NBA.
The Magic went with the more NBA-ready Paolo Banchero and the Thunder stuck with the length and potential of Chet Holmgren. But that gave the Rockets, a team that desperately needed Smith’s strengths as a shooter and a defender, a player unquestionably worth a No. 1 pick with the third pick of the draft.
A year and a day after the Rockets came away from the draft lottery with the pick they used for Jalen Green, they emerged from the draft with his running mate. They might not have gotten the player they expected, but they had reason to celebrate, anyway. — Jonathan Feigen
Rockets make their pick
7:26 p.m. — The Rockets did not choose first but landed the player most expected to be the first taken in the 2022 NBA Draft until the final hours of the draft.
The Rockets chose versatile Auburn forward Jabari Smith Jr. with the third pick of the draft, giving them the player considered the best big man shooter in the NBA draft.
Smith, a 6-10 forward with defensive skills to play as a three or four, made 42 percent of his 3-pointers as a freshman.
Smith did not visit the Rockets but became available when the Orlando Magic choice Duke’s Paolo Banchero with the first pick and the Oklahoma City Thunder took Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren second. — Jonathan Feigen
all for naught
7:20 p.m. — THIS is why I don’t write much before events. THIS is why they play the games.
I had some cool tidbits about Paolo Banchero that I was going to share with #Rockets fans. #oops — Jerome Solomon
Holmgren goes at No. 2
7:19 p.m. — After the stunning selection of Duke’s Paolo Banchero with the first pick of the draft, Chet Holmgren of Gonzaga went as expected to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
That opened the way for the Rockets to choose Jabari Smith Jr., who until late on Thursday, was considered the heavy favorite to go first. — Jonathan Feigen
Rockets’ plans upended
7:16 p.m. — The Orlando Magic were expected to draft Auburn’s Jabari Smith with the No. 1 pick but, in a shock to many, chose Duke forward Paolo Banchero instead. This likely throws a wrench into the Rockets’ plans. Banchero worked out for Houston but did not work out for Orlando. Smith only worked out for Orlando and Oklahoma City, which holds the No. 2 pick. Chet Holmgren declined to reveal his workout list. Gotta wonder what Smith and Holmgren, in addition to the Rockets’ front office, are thinking. — Danielle Lerner
Banchero goes No. 1 overall
7:13 p.m. — The Rockets’ presumed first pick, Duke’s Paolo Banchero, was off the board with the first pick.
The Orlando Magic, long thought to be taking Auburn’s Jabari Smith Jr., selected Banchero, a stunner that upset virtually every mock draft minutes into the draft and sent the top of the draft – including the Rockets’ selection at No. 3 – into uncertainty .
With that, the Rockets are expected to get either Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren or Smith, both considered No. 1 worthy prospects. — Jonathan Feigen
Eric Gordon on the market?
The 76ers are trying to acquire Eric Gordon and using Matisse Thybulle as an asset, even attempting to get a third team to participate, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. However, teams want to deal with the Sixers exclusively instead of helping them facilitate a deal to get Gordon from the Houston Rockets, the Inquirer says. The Portland Trail Blazers are willing to make a straight-up deal for Thybulle, according to sources. — Reid Laymance
Third-choice? not too shabby
The Rockets are set to pick third in the draft for only the second time (Louisville’s Rodney McCray in 1983 was their other third-overall selection).
Here’s a look at some notable third-overall picks during the NBA draft’s modern era (since 1966): Pete Maravich, Marques Johnson, Kevin McHale, Dominique Wilkins, Sean Elliott, Grant Hill, Chauncey Billups, Pau Gasol, Carmelo Anthony, James Harden , Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and some guy named Michael Jordan.
So the No. 3 spot, while it’s had its share of busts (paging Adam Morrison and Dennis Hopson), has been a good place to pluck top talent through the years. — greg rajan
Time to buy into this rebuild
6:15 p.m. — If basketball were like Wall Street, now’s the time to buy into and invest in the Rockets — primarily because they can’t get any worse. — Brian T. Smith.
Banchero’s purple reign
5:11 p.m. — Paolo Banchero, the presumed Rockets pick at No. 3 overall, busted out in a purple suit for tonight’s draft that he says is a nod to his parents and the University of Washington.
Banchero played at Duke, but his mother Rhonda and father Mario were athletes at Washington, where they met. Paolo, 19, grew up in Seattle and surprised many by choosing to play for the Blue Devils over his parents’ alma mater.
While I’m not a draft attire expert, I do enjoy the yearly fashion show. I have no recollection of any player showing up wearing Paolo’s shade of purple.
Without a doubt, he is the first to come to the NBA Draft with pins that look like disco balls all over the suit.
Banchero is the early leader in this year’s “best dressed” competition. — Jerome Solomon
Rockets seem to be winning Nets-Harden trade
5:10 p.m. — The NBA Draft is still on the red carpet, but there is speculation the Rockets have already won.
That might be a tad premature. And it has nothing to do with what they might do with the third pick of the draft or the other picks they control tonight. But in the run-up to the draft, ESPN reported that Nets star Kyrie Irving you have compiled a list of teams he would like to join if he cannot come to an agreement on a contract extension to stay with his latest team, and The Athletic added that superstar running buddy Kevin Durant is monitoring the situation to presumably determine whether he should stick around.
For the Rockets, a breakup of the Nets in the years that followed the Rockets’ split with James Harden could pay off as they hoped. The Rockets insisted on as many unprotected first-round picks as they could get when they agreed to deal Harden.
That has already netted them the 17th pick tonight, a choice considerably better than most would have predicted when the trade with the Nets was completed.
The Rockets also have the Nets’ picks in 2024 and 2026, and the right to swap picks with the Nets in 2025 and 2027. The Thunder could take the Rockets’ pick in 2025 unless it falls in the top 10. But however that season shakes out, the Rockets have a haul of Nets picks still coming after they cash in on one tonight.
It is too soon to say if those Nets picks are improving. Durant did not want to bolt when Harden so quickly left town. He could make it work with whatever the Nets get back for Irving if Irving again looks for a new home.
For now, it is difficult to determine whether Irving is posturing for leverage, with whatever help comes from Durant’s “monitoring” of the situation, or whether there is fire to go with all the smoke.
Either way, today’s reports bring a reminder of why Rockets general manager Rafael Stone wanted as many chances for a pick acquired to bring the rebuild the infusion of a pot of gold. In the interim, when it comes to offseason speculation and news making, the NBA never disappoints. — Jonathan Feigen
Start the countdown
4:30 pm — Welcome to our NBA draft live blog. We’re just about three hours away from the Rockets making the first of their three first-round picks (Nos. 3, 17 and 26 overall), barring any trades. We will have updates and analysis throughout the night from our staff writers, so be sure to check back often. — greg rajan
draft facts
When: 7 p.m. CT Thursday
Where: Barclay’s Center; Brooklyn, New York,
TV: ESPN
streaming: ESPN.com or ESPN app (cable/satellite subscription authentication may be required)
Rockets’ picks: No. 3, No. 17 (from Brooklyn, James Harden trade), No. 26 (from Dallas, Christian Wood trade)
draft previews
• Rockets’ moment at hand
• Owner Tilman Fertitta says draft ‘should be exciting for us’
• How Rockets combine data, old-school eye tests in draft process
• Paolo Banchero sees fit with Rockets
• Chet Holmgren the tall, thin, silent type
• Jabari Smith sees no need to meet with Rockets
• G League squad serves to Ignite NBA careers
• Baylor’s Jeremy Sochan ready for NBA takeoff
• Rockets’ history with lottery picks
Our mock drafts
#1: Top three a good spot
#2: Finding the right star
#3: Wood trade brings another pick
#4: How “aggressive” will Rockets be?
www.houstonchronicle.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism