Will The Houston Rockets Select Any Players in the Draft This Year?

(© Troy Taormina | 2026 Apr 24)

Throughout Rafael Stone’s six seasons as the Rockets general manager, there’s still one surprising thing he’s yet to do. In the whole rebuild process, he’s yet to draft a second round draft pick and give them a roster spot.

It makes sense to some degree, as they were prioritizing top picks. In other words, they were tanking. That’s how you get Jalen Green, Alperen Şengün, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, and Jabari Smith Jr.

At some point, those second round draft picks are valuable though. Just take a look at the list on Basketball-Reference. Montrezl Harrell and Isaiah Hartenstein both showed their value in Houston, then went on to be even better.

De’Anthony Melton and Dillon Brooks were Rockets’ picks that ultimately got traded away, but turned into very solid role players with Memphis.

In the past two seasons, Houston has traded away their lone second rounders. Jahmai Mashack got more playing time than any 59th pick could expect, due to the injuries in Memphis. Pelle Larson has turned into another solid role player with .