Mock Draft: Rockets Land Athletic Forward in Second Round

Although the Houston Rockets don’t have any first-round draft picks in this year’s NBA Draft, they do have multiple second-round draft picks this year, including the 39th pick and 53rd pick. In other words, the possibility exists of Houston addressing positions of need in the draft.

Sure, second-round picks have been utilized mostly in trades over the last several years. The Rockets sent five later round draft picks out last summer in the Kevin Durant deal, along with Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green, as salary filler. However, we’ve also seen several players get selected in the second round and become Hall of Famers.

Nikola Jokic was selected in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft. Draymond Green was selected in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft. Manu Gnobili was selected in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft.

Granted, it’s not a given that a team will land such a player in the second round. But they can be there for the taking. In the latest mock draft by Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the Rockets select Boba Miller, the center from Cincinnati, with the 53rd pick.

Siegel gave his synopsis of Miller.

“Teams always love to take a chance on athletic forwards with length, and that's what they would be getting from the 7'0″ Baba Miller. Scouts are conflicted on what type of role Miller would hold at the next level, but he could make a difference early on for a team like the Rockets, who tend to capitalize on length defensively from their forwards. If he can prove to knock down shots with consistency during the pre-draft process, Miller will lock in his spot as a sure-thing second-round pick.”

Miller was a double-double machine, averaging 13 points and 10.3 rebounds this past season for the Bearcats. He’s got a bit of an all-around game, with the ability to create for his teammates (3.7 assists this season and 2.7 assists last season) and the ability to protect the rim, averaging 1.2 blocks as a senior and 1.7 blocks as a junior.

Miller posted 17 double-doubles this past season. However, his skillset isn’t exactly in line with the current NBA landscape that involves the use of the stretch five, as he doesn’t have a semblance of an outside shot.

He averaged just 19.2 percent from long-range. There’s also not exactly much hope of him blossoming into a long-range shooting threat, as he made just 65.8 percent of his foul shots, which is generally the best gauge of a player’s ability to develop into a outside shooting threat in the NBA.

Yet and still, Miller is an underrated prospect and wouldn’t be a bad addition in the second round for a Rockets team that values size.

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