With the 18th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft the Houston Rockets select Delon Wright, Guard, Utah.
Dynamo.Joe:
The Houston Rockets window is now (well, two weeks ago) and extends for as long as they can keep a healthy James Harden. Although it may be a minority opinion, I do regard the Rockets as a legitimate contender, with strengths at multiple positions. The Rockets have the best two guard in the league. The Dwight Howard that showed up in the playoffs approached the Dwight Howard that dragged a team of nobodies in Orlando deep into the playoffs every spring. Future MVP and Hall of Famer, Clint Capela was impressive in limited playoff minutes. They even got great production at the point, in spite of injury to their starter (Patrick Beverley), from crafty veterans Pablo Prigioni and Jason Terry.
Unfortunately Prigs and JET have a combined age of Methuselah +1. Beverley is nearly 27 years-old, injured, and looking for his first real payday. As a result of these considerations, I believe the Rockets will be looking to reinforce the point guard position and more inclined to take players who are “NBA ready” over players with “upside”. This was the final consideration in picking Wright over Cameron Payne, who I believe has a slightly higher ceiling.
Let's start with his weaknesses. Per DraftExpress, those are; pull up jumper, finishing against NBA length at the rim, and age.
Weaknesses
It's short, there aren't many.
The first two are minimized by playing with Harden. Much more important than being able to hit jumpers off the dribble or finish at the rim is his ability to hit catch and shoot threes, which Wright has improved over the course of his career and over the course of this past season.
At 23 years-old, Wright is one of the oldest prospects in the draft. However, as discussed earlier, Houston is already in its window of contention and can't afford to spend 2-3 years waiting for players to mature physically or mentally.
Strengths
See, I told you. This is twice as long as the weaknesses video
The first two strengths highlighted are those that should be most appealing to Houston. Wright's a tenacious defender, and at 6'5" has the height to guard most shooting guards. Those two traits combined give the Rockets the ability to rest Harden by having him defend the lesser offensive threat.
There are other directions that the Rockets can choose to go. Shoring up the small forward position with someone like Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, for example. However, I think the position of greatest need is the point guard position and the best player to fill that need in a timely manner, is Delon Wright.
*James Harden's beard grew with excitement when this pick was announced. He is determined to have a beard that rivals that of Dumbledore's.*
Here is a breakdown of the draft so far:
| Selection | Team | GM | Player selected |
| 1 | T-wolves | Russscot | Karl Anthony Towns |
| 2 | Lakers | Rocky Mountain Way | D’Angelo Russel |
| 3 | 76ers | Fishbowlin | Emmanuel Mudiay |
| 4 | Knicks | CombatChuk | Justise Winslow |
| 5 | Magic | moondoggie12 | Kritaps Porzingis |
| 6 | Kings | Mr_RyMo | Jahlil Okafor |
| 7 | Nuggets | Agaliarept | Mario Hezonja |
| 8 | Pistons | TheMozgovCocktail | Stanley Johnson |
| 9 | Hornets | It’s the LAW SON | Devin Booker |
| 10 | Heat | teenasty | Willie Cauley Stein |
| 11 | Pacers | cubobafett56 | Myles Turnver |
| 12 | Jazz | Zachm19 | Frank Kaminsky |
| 13 | Suns | LuckyStiff | Kelly Oubre |
| 14 | Thunder | Salticus | Tyus Jones |
| 15 | Hawks | George Karl Marx | Sam Dekker |
| 16 | Boston | rps23 | Montrezl Harrell |
| 17 | Bucks | okan.idug | Bobby Portis |
| 18 | Rockets | dynamo.joe | Delon Wright |
Timing and the Washington Wizards are now on the clock.
