How the New Orleans Pelicans’ division rivals fared in the 2020 NBA Draft
By Nick Alvarez
The New Orleans Pelicans may have a leg up on the Houston Rockets given some of their turmoil and a lackluster draft
Houston Rockets
- Traded Robert Covington to the Portland Trail Blazers for Trevor Ariza, the 16th pick in the draft, and a protected 2021 first-round pick
- Traded Trevor Ariza and the 16th pick to the Detroit Pistons for a future first-round pick
- Selected Kenyon Martin Jr. with the 52nd pick
The Houston Rockets definitely had a quiet draft, and their moves leading up to the draft made them a lot weaker. Robert Covington was an excellent defender and shooter for the Rockets last season and moving on from him hurts their defense immensely, especially if they end up playing small-ball again.
The team also gave up the opportunity to add a contributor in the first round of the draft by trading the 16th pick and Trevor Ariza to Detriot for salary-cap relief. This resulted in their team only making one selection by drafting Kenyon Martin Jr.
The selection of Martin wasn’t a bad one though, even though he probably won’t ever be the All-Star caliber player his father Kenyon Martin Sr. was, there’s a decent chance that the younger Martin can become a valuable rotational defender.
Honestly, it isn’t the 2020 Draft that’s Houston’s problem though. The problem with the Rockets is that they have two superstars in James Harden and Russell Westbrook who allegedly don’t want to play with each other and don’t want to play in Houston anymore.
If the Rockets keep their two stars, their dram will most likely cause them to be a weaker team, and if they trade them well that means the Rockets will be looking at a rebuild. This is good news because the Pelicans should be able to knock off this team now, but I don’t know about the next one.