Should Houston Rockets Compete For NBA Play-In Tournament OR Tank To Try And Keep Their Draft Pick?

Should Houston Rockets Compete For NBA Play-In Tournament OR Tank To Try And Keep Their Draft Pick?

On today’s show we’ll take a look at the Houston Rockets remaining strength of schedule over these final 22 games and whether or not the team should compete and gun for that final playin spot or soft tank the rest of the regular season to increase their odds at keeping their

Own pick in this year’s draft we’ll look at the pros and cons of each path moving forward and so much more it’s all coming up right here at lock on Rockets this is Mission Control Houston ignition sequence start throw it up to jayen Green sh here in his short row oh

My that’s the no look Jabari for three and the win look at t e Here Comes T te 15 seconds guidance is internal the Houston Rockets select amen Thompson and cam Whitmore one thing I have never done is not made the playoffs and so we want to

Take that step here as well 6 5 4 3 2 1 to tank or not to tank that is the question what’s up and welcome to another edition of locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball as always I’m your host Jackson Gatlin native houstonian and credentialed media member I’m also the host of locked on NBA

Mondays be sure to follow along on Twitter at JT Gatlin the show of course at lockon Rockets free and available wherever you listen to your podcast including YouTube now today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more with FanDuel right now new customers get

$150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks if your bet wins visit fanduel.com lockon to get started and as always thank you so much for making locked on Rockets part of your day every single day thank you for being every day or whether it’s on your way to

Work on your lunch break in the gym thank you for making the show part of your day every single day now the question on today’s show compete or tank I want your thoughts in the YouTube comments the Rockets have 22 games left this NBA season and we’re going to

Discuss the pros and cons of both options moving forward now where we got to start here is we’re going to actually take a look at the Houston Rockets remaining strength of schedule and this is a point in favor of any and all of you those of

You who would like to see this team really compete and and try to score that final play in spot so we can have some postseason basketball for the first first time since the James Harden era uh the Rockets have the fourth easiest schedule remaining this NBA season uh the only teams with easier

Schedules for the remaining however many games 22 game rocks have 22 games left it’s different for every team but the only teams with an easier schedule remaining than the Rockets are uh unsurprisingly the Boston Celtics have the easiest schedule remaining and part of that’s because they don’t have to

Play themselves and they’re one of the best team in the NBA uh then the Miami heat Orlando Magic and then the Rockets clock in with the fourth easiest schedule remaining this season they play the Wizards a couple times they play the Spurs a couple times they play the Portland Trailblazers three three times

They play the Jazz three times they play the Bulls once in there they’ve got a few teams that are still tough to beat they’ve got the Timberwolves and OKC a couple more times um one each I apologize they play the Clippers twice and the Clippers still kind of jock you

Know jockeying for position near the top now one thing to consider when we look at strength of schedule for those unfamiliar right it just it takes a look at the remaining scheduled games and it looks at the combined winning percentage for those teams and calculates how difficult difficult air quotes your

Schedule is one thing that strength of schedule doesn’t take into account right is it doesn’t take into account that there are going to be teams later on in the season that you know might be resting certain guys or teams themselves might decide to bottom out and start resting you know some starting caliber

Players whatever uh to increase their own Lottery odds or potentially playoff teams that have you know kind of settled into a seed where they’re not going to go up or down regardless of how many games they win or lose and then those teams might decide to rest some of their

Key players so strength of schedule is not a perfect metric for understanding how the rest of the season might play out or the difficulty of the rest of the season but it’s a pretty good indicator of where the Rockets stand so the benefit is here the Rockets have a

Really easy schedule um coming up and that that’s beneficial to the Rockets chances of being able to squeeze into one of the or squeeze into that final slot in the Western Conference play in tournament standings now I will say that they are currently six games back uh

They are currently six games back of the Golden State Warriors who are at 32 and 28 uh the LA Lakers are at 34 and 29 so they’re only five games back in the Lost column of the LA Lakers and so that’s important to note that’s that’s

Important to keep in mind because we can also take a look at the remaining strength of schedule for those two teams now unfortunately the Warriors also have a pretty easy schedule a bit of a cakewalk uh for the remaining portion of their season they have the sixth easiest

Strength of schedule remaining they play the Spurs multiple times they play the Hornets in there they play the Blazers uh the Rockets count as one of the teams that the Warriors have to face uh they play the Utah Jazz a couple times uh so the Warriors not a difficult schedule to

To round things out and if I had to you know if I were a betting man I would say the Warriors I bet probably finish with a better record than the Lakers the Lakers have been a lot more inconsistent this year and to top it all off the

Lakers actually have the eighth most difficult schedule to close out this season they have to deal with the Timberwolves a couple more times they have to deal with the Bucks still twice haven’t played them at all yet they have to deal with the caves Pelicans 76ers

They’ve got to do the kings a couple more times the the Lakers have have a bit of a schedule like a a bit of a tough schedule to close things out and that’s beneficial for the Rockets because if the Lakers start dropping some games here and there it gives the

Rocket some life it gives them a chance to kind of squeeze into that final playin spot uh and also beneficial to the Rockets the Utah Jazz the only other team that’s currently ahead of the rockets and potentially in play for that final play in spot uh they have the

Second toughest schedule to close out the year they have to play the Celtics they have to play the Timberwolves twice they have to play the Nuggets twice they have to play OKC they still have to play the Clippers twice it is a gauntlet for the Utah Jazz to close out this year I

Would imagine they are going to drop a lot of those games but again keep in mind that certain teams that are at the top of the pecking order and therefore increasing that strength of schedule might not actually be trying their hardest right might not be incentivized

To win out some of these games here here at the at the end of the at the end of the season so as we’re kind of looking at things and trying to figure out for this Houston Rockets team what should they ultimately do because there are benefits on both sides of the aisle

Right there’s benefits to competing and trying to secure yourself that playing spot that was the goal for Oka and company coming into the season he was not shy about his desire to make sure that he doesn’t ever miss the playoffs hasn’t missed the playoffs yet in his

Career doesn’t want that to start this season he has made that perfectly and abundantly clear all season long uh and then there’s the other side of the argument where you know if the Rockets did soft tank and try to bottom out then they could potentially increase the odds

Of keeping their own pick the pick that is currently owed this season to the OKC Thunder it has top four protections on it so very similarly to the 2021 NBA draft where the Rockets actually did owe that pick to OKC and we were sweating bullets with basically a 50/50 coin FP

Coin flip what was it 52.1% 47.9% whatever the odds were of keeping versus losing that pick uh that was very uh it was a very nerve-wracking time to be a Rockets fan and thank goodness that pick actually stayed with the Houston Rockets it turned into Jaylen green and the rest is kind of

History so we have another situation that’s very similar to that that the Rockets could find themselves in here so let’s go ahead coming up we’re going to unpack the pros and cons of competing the pros and cons of tanking and that’s going to be coming up here in just one

Moment but I also want your thoughts I want to know how you feel about the competing versus tanking discussion so give me your thoughts whether you’re listening whether you’re watching on YouTube give me your thoughts in the YouTube comments because I do think there are very legitimate arguments on

Both sides of the aisle and I’ll share my ultimate opinion at the end of the show after presenting both sides of things we’re going to get to that in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by better help look sometimes we all need an opportunity to get something off

Our chest big or small certain things can really start to get to you it’s important to let that stuff out especially to someone who’s unbiased when it comes to your life because look it could be maybe you get into a disagreement with a co-worker or maybe

You got in trouble at work or something and that’s kind of bothering you and you’re frustrated with yourself or it’s just the situation or maybe it’s something in your personal life right maybe you get into a disagreement with a partner or a family member or just there

There’s all sorts of things that go on in our everyday lives and if you bottle those things up it can be you know really unhealthy for you emotionally mentally all that and therapy can help you really unpack those things I’ve done therapy in the past and I found it to be

A really cathartic experience that has helped me a lot in my own life and therapy can be different for everyone a lot of us have bigger problems than our favorite sports teams and whether or not they should be competing for the final playing spot or tanking to increase the

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Schedule Vis it betterhelp.com lockon MBA to get 10% off of your very first month that’s betterhelp hp.com lockon MBA and continuing on here at locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball all right we’re going to start with the competing angle here first because I do

Think that again very strong arguments on both sides the first argument of competing is holy crap how incredible would it be to have postseason basketball again for the Houston Rockets even if it means you’re the 10th seed even if it means you have to win not one but two separate games two single

Elimination games to be able to get into the playoffs first off I think single elimination basketball is incredible I love the playing tournament I love the stakes I love the environment all of it right it’s incredibly exciting if you’re the 10th seed and you’re the Rockets

You’d have to go on the road and win not one but two back-to-back Road games to carve yourself out a spot in the playoffs to secure potentially the eighth seed and a first round series with either the Minnesota Timberwolves or the OKC Thunder or potentially the Denver Nuggets and let’s face it it

Would probably be a Slaughter and it’s probably a long shot that the Rockets who have been abys this year on the road um who currently 6 and 24 on the road uh only one win better than the Detroit Pistons who are five and 26 on the road uh it complete

And utter long shot but at the same time I think that getting a achieving a play in tournament birth would validate so much about what this team tried to do this year about what this team is still in the process of doing um and I think it would it

Would go a long way to Showcase a variety of different things first off it would be incred it would be an incredible experience and a very validating experience for a lot of the young guys on this roster now again it’s not a guaranteed seven game series um

But it’s a shot at a seven game series right and it’s a shot at playing some meaningful basketball and giving yourself a chance to make the playoffs and that’s something to play is is really important right These Guys these athletes they’re they’re competitors right if you’ve played any sport in your

Life you understand that there’s a competitive angle a competitive drive there and these guys want to achieve success right they don’t like losing the last two or three years has been really brutal uh and it’s been tough for a lot of the young guys on this wrestler right

Guys like Jaylen and Alp who were drafted into a really garbage losing situation and to just know that you were going to lose 50 60 plus games every season that’s mentally and emotionally exhausting so to have the reward of finally having a year where the Rockets have turned things around quite

Considerably this season to go from last year to what they were last season to what they’ve achieved already this year I think you have to just say that this year has been a success in the grand scheme of things even though we were maybe spoiled a little bit early on by

Some of the early success and and we had these you know at the time looking back right hindsights 2020 but these illusions of grandeur about oh my God the Rockets are going to be you know in the playoff hunt they worrying about a playing spot we’re locking up a

Full-blown playoff seed no um I do think it would mean a lot to this team and it would be incredibly validating for the young core for Oka that that that everything that he has preached the the foundation that he has tried to kind of establish this year um has Merit right

Again playoff experience for the young guys even if it’s just a playing tournament even if it’s just one game maybe it’s two games right maybe they they win the first one they get to play the second one maybe they maybe they win both right and they get a first round

Series and you get at least four games against a a a top tier caliber opponent whoever the the number one seed is in the Western Conference that would be absolutely incredible that would be such a great experience for the young guys we’ve seen just how valuable playoff experience can be for young upand

Cominging teams right we look at you can go back and look at sheay gildas Alexander and the playoff experience that he had both with the LA Clippers then with the Chris Paul L OKC Thunder in and the uh bubble experience that he that that he had uh playing against the

Rockets like all of that helped mold and helped build Shay into the player that he is today now would Shay still be an incredible Talent without those experiences absolutely the kid’s insanely talented but learning those lessons going through those experiences early on absolutely help young players grow probably grow up and mature a

Little bit faster right so I do think that’s one one benefit there uh I do think it kind of validates what the front office has done or decided not to do in situations right it validates the signings of Fred vanon Dylan Brooks Jeff Green right the the the names that were

Brought in to kind of achieve the success that they wanted this year it also probably validates uh the fact that they didn’t make any moves at the deadline and maybe not so much that one maybe it’s just you know yeah maybe it doesn’t validate that one they could

Have they could have still been in a better spot right now had they actually made some moves at the deadline and gotten a little bit more additional support but that’s neither here nor there um and just from a fan perspective right again I I mentioned it right off

The bat but it would be so much fun to watch this young group of guys who we root for we cheer for we want to see them succeed we want to see the team do well it would be so exciting to be able to you know see them succeed secure that

That final play in spot and have a chance to you know root for some postseason basketball right and again the playing tournament Vibes the atmosphere is incredible right watching the single elimination uh the level of tension and excitement in the building uh I I think that’s that’s some of the best

Basketball that you can witness because it’s just it’s so nerve it feels like a game seven it feels like a game seven it feels like everything’s on the line because it’s literally win or go home in the playing tournament um it’s and it’s it’s a lot more nerve-wracking when

You’re one of the bottom seated teams in the playing tournament versus if you come in if you clock in at number seven then you know and you lose then or seven or eight you lose the first game you still have a chance to secure yourself against the winner of the nine10 bracket

So it’s not quite as nerve-wracking if you’re the seven or eight seed um but it is a lot more nerve-wracking when you’re the nine or 10 seed and your season could literally end after one game so I think that there are a lot of arguments for and and and another one here

Is the veterans probably or a lot of players probably don’t want to bottom out like again and this kind of goes back into the uh the competitor angle here convincing professional athletes right that it’s in their best interest to lose games is a a hard message to

Deliver we saw that uh recently with the Dallas Mavericks right when they decided to shut everybody down last season and Luca hated that Luca was vehemently against that decision uh that the front office made to try and you know lose out the final few games or whatever and that

Was only a few games we’re not talking you know a long you know a marathon of losing we’re talking a handful of games and they made that choice distinctly with the the goal of keeping their pick because had they uh got had they had they done any better then they might not

Have kept their pick and that pick turned into Derek Lively which coincidentally helped them out a lot more this year so these are why the front office have to make the front offices have to make make these hard decisions right about whether or not you cheese the system a little bit you know

Grease the odds in your favor a little bit more because at the end of the day the players are going to want to do what they think is in their own best interest and what’s in their best interest is competing at the highest level and trying to win as many games as possible

It doesn’t help any of the players right now in this moment to lose games in fact it it it probably makes them look worse they would feel worse about all of that so that’s another side of why competing makes the most right that’s the the natural order of a Sports organization

Is to try and win games you know these organizations these billion dooll organizations don’t exist for the sole purpose of trying to lose games now some organizations are better at that than others um but yeah so and then one final note here uh before we transition into

The uh Pro tanking argument is it’s going to be really hard to catch some of these teams uh when you look at the NBA standings right now and kind of where some of the other teams are are at that are going to be you know higher up

In the pecking order of the lottery this year the Wizards already have 52 losses the Pistons 51 the Spurs 48 Charlotte 46 Portland 43 and those teams are going to continue to lose games like those are those are not like set in stone right those those losses are going to continue

To track you know Trend upward uh the Wizards are on an incredibly impressive 15-game losing streak right now and at least momentarily they have eclipsed the Detroit Pistons despite having the longest losing streak in NBA history so that says a lot about the state of the Washington Wizards franchise you’re not

Going to catch a lot of these teams but there are some teams that you could catch uh in the tank ofon standings we’re going to talk about the pros and cons to the tanking situation uh and whether or not the Rockets should bottom out coming up here in just one

Moment first today’s episode is brought to you by fan fuel get buckets with your first bet on FanDuel America’s number one sports book because right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks if your bet wins and all you have to do is

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Just visit fanduel.com lockon and shoot your shot FanDuel official Sportsbook partner of the NBA and final segment here at locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball all right here is the pro tanking segment Pro tanking argument uh keeping that pick sounds pretty nice like it was

Incredibly nice uh it it the process sucked uh back in 2021 Sweating Bullets Over whether or not the Rockets would keep their pick that coin flip uh with OKC what was it 40 47.9% versus or no I God I can’t I can’t even 52 % versus 48% was like the

Ballpark range right it was terrifying going into that 2021 NBA draft lottery but the Rockets kept their pick and it turned into jayen green now as it stands right now the Rockets pick is currently uh just below the Atlanta Hawks so the rockets and Hawks are both 26 and 34 uh the Rockets

Are technically slotted right behind them so they have currently a 16.9% chance at their pick turning into a top four pick uh the Brooklyn Nets pick is actually just ahead of the Rockets pick and they have a 26.3% chance of that pick turning into a top

Four pick now here’s the rub the Rockets no matter how much losing they do no matter how badly they finished this season even if they tried their heart if they if the Rockets went 0 and 22 right now they’re still not catching the teams like the Wizards the Pistons

The Spurs the Hornets probably not the Blazers like those teams are going to continue to rack up the losses as this season winds down so you’re not you’re realistically you’re only going to be able to do so much to push yourself up the well push yourself down the standing

Whatever up the tank ofon standings down the real standings uh to be able to increase the odds of that pick but here’s the argument right for keeping that pick it gives you a lot lot of flexibility it gives you another very strong asset in the rebuilding process

Because with where the Rockets are at right now they still don’t have a star Alper and shinon came really close this year and he’s playing you know at least for the first half of the season and and often he plays like a star level player

Um and how much better can he get right we still don’t know what what Alp ceiling is but so far he’s been the best player of the young core 6 when you see the games like Jaylen green had against the Phoenix Suns then you start to have

You you you’ve seen the insane highes from Jaylen green right the ceiling that he has a Min Thompson and can Whitmore both shown incredible flashes Jabar Jr as well but right now of the Rockets young core six they do not have a definitive Star level player a guy that

Can be the face of the franchise going forward a guy that you think has the chance to be a top 25 top 20 top 15 top 10 whatever guy down the line I think of all the young guys guys Amin Thompson probably has the greatest chance to be

That guy with his blend of skill athleticism IQ all that but he’s also got a pretty gaping big hole in his game the fact that he can’t shoot the basketball if that never gets fixed he’s still going to be an incredibly talented player he’s still going to be very very

Good in the NBA but he’s never going to be able to be your number one guy your go-to guy if he doesn’t have a shot outside of 5T away from the rim so the rockets need that guy they could draft that guy still and if

You retain access to your pick if you if the pick jumps into the top four then you have another shot another bite at the Apple to draft a guy that you think can turn into that guy uh it also mainly I think the important thing is here it

Gives you another asset to use to potentially trade for that guy because let’s say the Rockets do hold onto their pick let’s say they they you know bottom out soft tank organically tank if you want the the the the distant cousin of organic learning uh if they do that this

Season and their pick stays you know with them jumps into the top four if you have a top four pick and whatever happens with the Brooklyn Nets pick to trade on draft night to do something with on draft night then that’s a lot to work with that’s a really enticing trade

Offer to be able to have a top four pick pick number eight let’s say from the from Brooklyn and then any combination of the young guys on the roster plus all the expiring salary that the that the Rockets have to make a play for a big name because one thing that

That happens a lot in these you know when when a star player gets dealt is often times we’ve seen star players being dealt for future assets right we’ve seen them being traded for you know years and years of draft picks you know five six seven years of draft picks to to different

Organizations I think the enticing thing that the Rockets might be able to offer if they did have both picks in this year’s draft even though it’s widely regarded as a bit of a weaker draft it it’s more of an instant gratification right for a team that wants to

Immediately hit the ground running with a couple young guys maybe you trade a couple of the young core six as well and then that’s like breathing new life into another organization if you’re able to trade for an established star player that wants wants out you know wants off

A certain team and maybe that that player puts Houston on his wish list so having that extra asset could be really beneficial in the grand scheme of things especially when either a you you just you just don’t have a hem you don’t have a a franchise guy yet on the roster a

Guy that you think can be that guy uh another Point here is just if that pick did jump into the top four if it if it landed number one or if it just if the Rockets Were Somehow able to walk away with Alex SAR in this draft my God he’s

Like the absolute perfect compliment to Alper and shenon and the rockets could go from being one of the smallest teams in the NBA to being like super siiz jumbo team next season by playing jabarus SM junr at the three and Alex SAR at the four and you know kind of

Offsetting shingon size at the five then you still be able to bring you know Dylan and tar off the bench like that’s an incredible like kind of forward Wing combination of players to work with if you locked into that by the pick jumping up but again how realistically right how

Much worse could the Rockets get to increase their pick odds if they finished sixth worst right now the Grizzlies are sixth worth at 21 and 41 and again the Grizzlies are going to continue to lose games too but if they finished sixth worse sixth worse that’s hard to say that’s a

37.2% chance at the pick jumping into the top four that’s a 20% increase from where you’re at right now that’s not that’s not nothing but is it worth it for all the headache of of intentionally losing games because like I mentioned earlier it goes against every fiber of these

Players these coaching staff the coaching staff it goes against every fiber of their beings right because you don’t become an NBA player by losing right it’s the natural order of things is to win games when you are a competitive Sports organization you want to win games so tanking is hard It’s A

Hard Sell sometimes it has Merit sometimes it’s beneficial we we saw it with the Dallas Mavericks right um they got Derek Lively out of it because they they bottomed out a few games they they held on to their pick and now they have an incredibly impactful beneficial piece to you know

For years to come on their team so I see both sides of the argument but I do think logistically I think you would do more harm than good by intentional trying to lose games just for arguably what a 20% increase CH because it’s not even a guarantee is the problem because you’re

Not you’re not guaranteeing that you get a top four pick by doing this all you’re doing is increasing the odds of the top four pick and in the past you know we’ve had these tanking discussions and whether they should be winning games losing games whatever I was very much in

Favor of of losing as much as possible because the Rockets weren’t they didn’t have anything to play for they weren’t a serious organization they were still in the phase one of rebuilding that time is long gone right this team is first of I think they’ve done an incredible job

Rehabilitating their image so far already this season they are a competitive team they they fight hard every single night they’re a tough out every single game they’re not getting blown out by teams they they are a a a m a monumentally better team than they were last year and that speaks volume so

About what the coaching staff has accomplished with these guys about the internal growth of some of these guys um and I think you would probably do some damage to that that the perception of the team of the organization around the league if you were to suddenly try and

Erase all that progress by benching your key veterans by by intentionally trying to give up on games whatever and I should have mentioned this in the uh Pros argument for for competing but you’re also kind of you’re marketing yourself right to other other players you’re marketing yourself to potential

Free agents to potential trade targets to potential stars that might want to come to Houston maybe it’s not right away maybe it’s not you know this offseason maybe it’s you know a little bit further down the line but players take note of these things right they

They they they see things they see how organizations handle certain things and from a player’s perspective what player would want to go to an organization that that is with willingly giving up on like a quarter of the Season uh you know when when the playing tournament is still Within Reach

Um and I again I think there’s there’s an argument to be made that if the Rockets did make that push if they make it to the playin even if they don’t make it to the playin right but if they’re if they’re like this close if they’re so close to the

Playin who’s to say there’s not a star player out there who would be upset with his current situation his current predicament and he takes a look around the league and he’s like you know what Houston’s got something they’ve got something cooking over there those young guys are exciting jayen shenon Amin cam

Jabari tari they’ they’ve got something and I could be that missing piece right if I if I demand a trade or if I go sign there or whatever I could be that missing piece that puts them over the top and then they go from you know barely missing the plan or making the

Plan but you know getting outed in the first game second game whatever or hell maybe they make it through the playing bracket and they they you know become the a seed right and you know they get a first first round Series against somebody and they maybe they they take a

Game right you know Underdog kind of thing Cinderella story that’s a lot easier to Market to another player to a star player to convince somebody hey why don’t you why don’t you come to Houston right come sign with us or demand a trade and come here right we’ve talked about it in the

Past there’s a lot of players that would love to play for a coach like Oka he has a lot of cache around the league I think you damage some of that cache and some of that desire for other guys to maybe want to come to Houston if you bought

Him out so I think where I ultimately land is I want to see this team play the best basketball it can play over these final 22 games I want to see them win as many games as possible even if the playing tournament looks like it’s a

Little bit Out Of Reach again we talked about their the they’ve got the fourth easiest schedule remaining in the NBA they’ve got a legit shot to make it and my God I would love to watch some postseason Rockets basketball it’s been far too long and again it would valid

Valid a lot of things that this team this organization have done in the past um so yeah I think that’s that’s where I think I land on the compete versus tank argument is I’d rather see this team compete try to win out win as many games as possible and you never know what

Happens right maybe by the end of the season we’re talking about the Rockets as the 10th seed or maybe even hell the ninth seed quite possibly because again who knows what happens with the Warriors and Lakers and the Jazz as we round down this season but I want your thoughts I

Want to know how you feel about the argument compete versus tank whether you’re listening if you’re watching on YouTube drop your thoughts in the comments it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t at least do a tank ofon spin to in this episode because hey maybe the

Rockets don’t have to tank at all and that pick still jumps into top four territory how are we feeling are we feeling lucky today guys let me get my hands together and all right all right here we go tank ofon spin it’s still not fixed on the visuals on YouTube I’m so

Sorry all right here we go okay well disappointing all right the Rockets pick uh it actually bumped down a little bit well no same spot 10th over 10th overall pick nice voice crack there at the end 10th overall pick goes to OKC Brooklyn Net’s pick eighth overall comes

To Houston so it is what it is we’re not going to do multiple multiple spins or maybe we’ll take one more crack at it reset Sim one more time nope nothing all right all right I try I tried to cheat it and do a second one but uh on that

Note if you haven’t done so yet please consider subscribing whever you’re listening to your podcast uh or on YouTube just search locked on Rockets like comment subscribe all that good stuff as always thank you so much for watching thank you so much for listening and we look forward to having you back

Right here at locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets Basketball

Should Houston Rockets Compete For NBA Play-In Tournament OR Tank To Try And Keep Their Draft Pick?

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) discusses the Houston Rockets remaining strength of schedule while also looking at the SOS of the LA Lakers, Golden State Warriors, and Utah Jazz to paint the picture of whether or not a play-in tournament push is realistic, the pros and cons of competing to closeout the season and make the NBA play-in tournament vs tanking and trying to bottom out to increase the odds of keeping the pick currently owed to the OKC Thunder (top-4 protected) and more.

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