Rockets Finish Bottom-3 For Third Straight Season

The Houston Rockets are now guaranteed to have a 14 percent chance at winning the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery later this Spring after losing to the New York Knicks last night.

With a 137-115 blowout loss to the New York Knicks behind a career-high 40 points from Immanuel Quickley, the Houston Rockets will officially finish as a bottom-three team in the NBA to close out the regular season.

Houston owns a putrid 6-32 record on the road, the second worst defensive rating (119.0) and the fourth-worst offensive rating (110.2) this year. They have a lot to clean up in the offseason as their young nucleus will have nothing but time to develop their game in preparation for the 2023-24 campaign.

While this marks the third consecutive season that the Rockets will potentially finish as the worst overall seed in the Western Conference, the silver lining happens to be the NBA Draft Lottery, where they've earned a 14 percent chance at winning the No. 1 overall pick.

Selecting in the top-three in 2021 and 2022, the Rockets selected Jalen Green No. 2 overall in 2021 and followed that up by taking Jabari Smith Jr. with the third pick last year. 

There may not be a more anticipated No. 1 pick since the 2019 draft which saw Zion Williamson headline a talented cast of collegiate talent. French prodigy Victor Wembanyama has been talked about as the runaway top guy for the better part of a year now, and Houston will now own joint-top odds to land the 7-4 do-it-all center. 

Houston excels on the boards, where they are the fourth-best team in the league averaging 46.0 rebounds per game. Their youth are tenacious on both the offensive and defensive glass, and show continual promise in that department. 

The Rockets most desperately need an anchor on the defensive end as well as an Uber-efficient 25 point-per-game scorer that can lead the team. Wembanyama possesses the talent to do both. 

In the event that they don't receive the luck of the draw, management may look towards taking a pass-first point guard that can bolster the perimeter defense and put their young talent in the best positions to score.

The lottery will take place on May 16, 2023 at 7 p.m. CST. 

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