May 6, 2025 • 3 mins
The NBA Lottery has been a gift for some teams and a curse for others. What do the Houston Rockets do with the 2025 pick acquired by the Suns? Do they stand pat inside the top 4 and take a young talent? Do they move it for Devin Booker or Giannis? Is that the selection needed to take Houston over the top? The A-Team discusses the best plan when the ping pong ball drop Monday evening.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Just for the sake of argument, since this is going
to ramp up certainly now, and it's going to really
ramp up when the Draft lottery happens a week from
tonight and the Rockets find out exactly how good that
twenty twenty five first round pick via the Phoenix suns is.
I just find it fascinating when you're talking about the
percentages on where that pick might land, that one through
(00:21):
four as possible, and nine after as possible, but you
will not be picking five through eight at all, zero.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Percent if you're unaware the lottery only is a selection
process for who gets the first four picks. Everybody else
is slotted in by record. After that, you could certainly
jump up, but if you don't, then the only reason
your position will change is if somebody behind you going
into the lottery did jump up to the one through
four spots. So the Rockets will have pick one, two, three, four, nine, ten,
(00:53):
eleven or twelve. If all three teams that get in
or four teams that get inside the lottery are behind
me and there's only five teams that are behind them,
they could slot back all of those spots, and then
the teams that have the eight best records ahead of
them that all also miss the lottery would all be
ahead of them. So nine through thirteen or one through four,
(01:15):
that's what the Rockets will have following this Monday's NBA
Draft lottery. Pretty much consensus that Cooper Flagg goes one.
Seems likely that at least one Rutgers players player Harper
or Bailey will be the second or third pick. Bj
Edgecombe probably also in strong consideration to be top four
(01:35):
and maybe an outlier, but pretty good chance that those
are probably four of the top five or six picks.
So certainly in the area where the Rockets might end up.
And whatever they do with this pick, it's definitely gonna
impact next year's roster the simple ways you take a
player because you land it up there, and now he
impacts how you're gonna set your rotation. Where does this
player fit in? If he's like any of their other
(01:56):
top ten picks they've made, he deserves playing time. He's
earned playing time during his rookie season, whether Westerbari Jalen
or Amen.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Thompson, anybody not named Reid.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Yep, anybody not named Reed of the group that was
in this year's rotation. A seemingly lesser draft the one
that read Shepherd was the third overall pick in No,
he never earned rotation minutes for this team. They're super
high on his future, but it's also still how do
you get him on the court, because I know Fred's
(02:28):
deal could be done. Definitely doesn't appear like it's going
to be the case. What most likely is the case
is he will not opt the team will not pick
up the option because they will have already agreed to
a multi year deal for less money than forty plus.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Millis very team friendly.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I mean, they can try to get his team friendly
as they want. It'll be more friendly than forty plus
million a year for sure, but it's still going to
be a pretty good chunk of change. I wouldn't be
surprised if it's not much different than what Alpi and
Jalen are making, which is plus thirty.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeh, He's not going to be included in any deal. No,
very very unlikely.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Jalen Green, on the other hand, is there an opportunity
is this where this team can get significantly better if
he's someone you dangle and thus replace Jabari Smith Junior.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Only in the fact that he's a younger player with talent?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Is he somebody that you dangle kN what More, Similarly,
you're gonna have to give something up to get something.
You're gonna have to consider what of the future assets
that you own from Phoenix and elsewhere and your own
are you willing to give up? And are you certain
that the group that just walked off the court last
night isn't good enough with improvement or better offensive play
(03:34):
or play design, that you can get over the hump
without a deal.
Just for the sake of argument, since this is going
to ramp up certainly now, and it's going to really
ramp up when the Draft lottery happens a week from
tonight and the Rockets find out exactly how good that
twenty twenty five first round pick via the Phoenix suns is.
I just find it fascinating when you're talking about the
percentages on where that pick might land, that one through
(00:21):
four as possible, and nine after as possible, but you
will not be picking five through eight at all, zero.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Percent if you're unaware the lottery only is a selection
process for who gets the first four picks. Everybody else
is slotted in by record. After that, you could certainly
jump up, but if you don't, then the only reason
your position will change is if somebody behind you going
into the lottery did jump up to the one through
four spots. So the Rockets will have pick one, two, three, four, nine, ten,
(00:53):
eleven or twelve. If all three teams that get in
or four teams that get inside the lottery are behind
me and there's only five teams that are behind them,
they could slot back all of those spots, and then
the teams that have the eight best records ahead of
them that all also miss the lottery would all be
ahead of them. So nine through thirteen or one through four,
(01:15):
that's what the Rockets will have following this Monday's NBA
Draft lottery. Pretty much consensus that Cooper Flagg goes one.
Seems likely that at least one Rutgers players player Harper
or Bailey will be the second or third pick. Bj
Edgecombe probably also in strong consideration to be top four
(01:35):
and maybe an outlier, but pretty good chance that those
are probably four of the top five or six picks.
So certainly in the area where the Rockets might end up.
And whatever they do with this pick, it's definitely gonna
impact next year's roster the simple ways you take a
player because you land it up there, and now he
impacts how you're gonna set your rotation. Where does this
player fit in? If he's like any of their other
(01:56):
top ten picks they've made, he deserves playing time. He's
earned playing time during his rookie season, whether Westerbari Jalen
or Amen.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Thompson, anybody not named Reid.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Yep, anybody not named Reed of the group that was
in this year's rotation. A seemingly lesser draft the one
that read Shepherd was the third overall pick in No,
he never earned rotation minutes for this team. They're super
high on his future, but it's also still how do
you get him on the court, because I know Fred's
(02:28):
deal could be done. Definitely doesn't appear like it's going
to be the case. What most likely is the case
is he will not opt the team will not pick
up the option because they will have already agreed to
a multi year deal for less money than forty plus.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Millis very team friendly.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I mean, they can try to get his team friendly
as they want. It'll be more friendly than forty plus
million a year for sure, but it's still going to
be a pretty good chunk of change. I wouldn't be
surprised if it's not much different than what Alpi and
Jalen are making, which is plus thirty.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeh, He's not going to be included in any deal. No,
very very unlikely.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Jalen Green, on the other hand, is there an opportunity
is this where this team can get significantly better if
he's someone you dangle and thus replace Jabari Smith Junior.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Only in the fact that he's a younger player with talent?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Is he somebody that you dangle kN what More, Similarly,
you're gonna have to give something up to get something.
You're gonna have to consider what of the future assets
that you own from Phoenix and elsewhere and your own
are you willing to give up? And are you certain
that the group that just walked off the court last
night isn't good enough with improvement or better offensive play
(03:34):
or play design, that you can get over the hump
without a deal.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.