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Tuesday June 26, 2007 5:37 PM


Who's Got Next?


Rockets seeking 'best player available' with late first round pick



Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer
HOUSTON -- Rockets general manager Daryl Morey is well aware that his team has a few gaps to fill before the start of the 2007-08 season.

He just isn't necessarily expecting to fill them in Thursday's NBA Draft.

"We believe trade and free agency is where we're going to get our planned rotation," Morey said. "We're hoping our draft pick fights his way on to the floor, but we can't plan on it with that late of a pick. So we've just got to go for the best player available rather than filling a need."

The Rockets have the No. 26 overall pick in the NBA Draft, meaning they'll have plenty of time to wait and see what talent is available when the draft begins Thursday night at 6 p.m. The draft will be aired on ESPN.

While the draft's biggest names -- Ohio State's Greg Oden and Texas' Kevin Durant -- will be off the board long before the Rockets make their pick, the pool of talent appears to be deep. Georgia Tech's Thaddeus Young, Rice's Morris Almond, LSU's Glen "Big Baby" Davis, Italy's Marco Belinelli and Boston College's Sean Williams are just some of the names that could be available when the Rockets are on the clock.

Sizing up the draft, Morey sees plenty of potential available for the Rockets' lone selection. The team could use more size in the front court, but with such a late pick, Morey believes his team is better off using the selection on a talented young player that can be molded for the future.

"The No. 26 pick usually doesn't have a lot of value, but we think in this year's draft, it's going to have more value because of the depth of the draft," Morey said. "The end of the first round and the beginning of the second round are going to have some good players. It's a much deeper draft than last year."

That doesn't necessarily mean that the Rockets will wait their turn. Morey said the team might try to move up in the first round, although it's highly unlikely the team would garner a top 10 pick.

"We're more likely to move up than down," Morey said. "Frankly, we've had more offers to move down. But more than likely, you keep the pick."

If the team remains in its original slot, the Rockets would have to beat pretty long odds to find a star that late in the draft.

Despite all the talk of a deep draft pool, history shows that the majority of picks taken late in the first round haven't panned out. The final few picks of the first round have produced names like San Antonio's Tony Parker and Dallas' Josh Howard. But there are far more names -- former Auburn star Mamadou N'Diaye and North Carolina star Joseph Forte are two -- that didn't have lengthy careers in the NBA than did at that spot.

Morey is well aware of the history.

"The history of those draft picks panning out is pretty low, but my job is to beat those odds," Morey said. "That's what we're planning on."