Houston Rockets one number off on last winning ping-pong ball
CHICAGO — The Rockets could not have been closer.
One digit on one final ping-pong ball, a two instead of a one, and the Rockets would have had the first pick of the NBA draft and the right to choose French prodigy Victor Wembanyama, the sort of rare talent who changes the future of the league and the lives of those who share the floor and franchise with him.
Yet in a way, they were even closer than that to winning the right to pick first and choose Wembanyama in a bit of great fortune that went to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday before subsequent lottery results sent the Rockets to the June 22 draft with the fourth pick.
The team that won the long-ago coin tosses that led the NBA to create the draft lottery, the annual tension-filled event that can so significantly determine the future of its participants, lost this year's lottery because it won a coin toss.
The Rockets, winners of the 1983 and 1984 coin tosses for prized Hall of Fame-bound big men Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon, won an April 18 tiebreaker coin toss that placed them second in the lottery and put the Spurs third.
Had the Rockets lost that coin toss and been assigned the four-number combinations that went to the Spurs, they would have had the winning lottery numbers Tuesday and the chance to pick Wembanyama.
If that did not sufficiently torment them with thoughts of what could have been, had they won one more game this past season — perhaps holding on for three-tenths of a second against the Kings or protecting a lead against the Raptors — they would have won 23 games instead of 22 and had the number combinations needed to win the lottery.
Even that might not have indicated how tantalizingly close the Rockets came.
The numbers on each ping-pong ball drawn from the plastic bubble in which they are mixed came out exactly as the Rockets wanted and needed — until the last one did not.
Fourteen. Five. Eight. The Rockets had each one. Clay Allen, the Rockets' general counsel and representative in the lottery drawing room, wrote each number on a piece of paper and then the number one the Rockets needed.
When it was instead a two, he crossed off the one, wrote a two and turned to Spurs general manager Brian Wright to his left and said, “I think that’s you,” just as he did last season when the Orlando Magic won.
Wright pumped a fist discreetly under the table and shook Allen’s hand. He let out a small smile. He said later he did not know he had won until Allen told him. “Absolutely not,” Wright said.
When the Spurs' numbers came out two more times, forcing the NBA to try again to determine the draft order, Wright smiled more broadly, looking almost embarrassed to have such unrelenting good fortune.
“It was incredibly stressful, anxiety-ridden,” Wright said. “I’m excited about this for the city and for the franchise. It is the culmination of a lot of people’s hard work. It is the beginning, not the end. There’s a lot of hard work still to be done.”
That includes, he said, determining who should be the first pick, even if that decision is obvious.
The Hornets won the right to pick second. The Portland Trail Blazers will pick third. It took four tries to determine the team that would pick fourth. The Spurs’ numbers came up two more times and the Hornets’ once before the Rockets got the numbers they needed; 7-14-4-1.
That was considerably too late to get the coveted first pick. But Rockets general manager Rafael Stone said he was happy with the caliber of talent that will be there for the taking when Houston is on the clock.
“We have the fourth pick of the draft. It’s a really talented draft. I’m happy,” Stone said. “I think we’re going to add another talented guy. We feel really good about the direction our franchise is headed in with our young core and our ability to add in free agency. This is additive. I would say it’s kind of icing on the cake. It’s kind of been our approach, really for the last year, (that) we need to transition out of that phase.
“One is better than four. We can all do math. But I’m excited we’re going to get an opportunity to get a really quality player.”
While Wembanyama is certain to be chosen first, Alabama’s Brandon Miller and the G League Ignite’s Scoot Henderson are most likely to be the next two selections in some order, though the top three is not considered as certain as in the past two seasons.
Amen and Ausar Thompson, wildly athletic point guards with Overtime Elite, have outstanding size but worrisome shooting. Villanova’s Cam Whitmore is among the youngest players in the draft, bringing great upside. Houston’s Jarace Walker has potential to be elite defensively and in the offensive frontcourt style Rockets coach Ime Udoka used in Boston.
“We’re going to get a great young player,” said Udoka, who showed no emotion on the lottery stage. “We’re excited to add to our core. It was exciting. It’s a great opportunity. We can add to the draft, but we also have to develop the guys that we have. We look forward to adding a good piece to what we already have.
“Obviously, everyone gets enamored with No. 1 or possibly two and three guys, but there’s tons of quality players. It’s a pretty top-heavy draft.”
This is not to say Stone did not have his fingers crossed to choose earlier than fourth. When ESPN went to commercial in its broadcast unveiling the lottery results — with those in the drawing room still locked behind closed doors and unable to share what they had witnessed — the Rockets were among the four teams left with a chance to find out they’d pick first.
“Honest answer: I was nervous during the commercial break,” Stone said. “Not as nervous as I was two years ago, but I was nervous anyway.”
Two years ago, when the Rockets drafted Jalen Green with the second pick, the Oklahoma City Thunder had the option to swap selections had Houston's fallen past fourth. That would have left the Rockets with the 18th pick.
With the Rockets picking fourth this year after getting the second and third picks in the previous two years, Stone said he has not agreed with those who believe there is a top echelon that goes only three players deep.
“We have been looking at this draft for like three years,” Stone said. “This is a really good draft. I’m very confident there are uber talented players that will be available at four.
“There’s more than one or two guys who are special. The talent at the top of this draft is pretty rare.”
Source: Houston Chronicle
