Shooting guard/small forward Brad Newley has been an outstanding player and it’s not known if he will move to the United States to play for the Rockets.  If he does, the Rockets could have a steal here.  Newley is 6′6″, 195 pounds and he’s a great all around basketball player.  He has played in 149 games in Australia and he averaged 19.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steal and 0.8 blocks per game.  He also is a solid shooter as he’s hit 45.8% from the floor, 36.6% from three point range and 74.4% from the free throw line.  This was a low risk/high reward draft pick for the Rockets.

The Rockets acquired Carl Landry from the Sonics for a future 2nd rounder and cash.  Landry could compete for the starting power forward job right away as the job is now wide open.  Landry played his last three seasons at Purdue after transferring over from Vicennes.  He’s a 6′7″, 205 pound forward who has a knack for rebounding which is just what the Rockets need.  He played in 123 games in college and he averaged 17.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block per game.  Landry also knows who to put the ball in the basket as he hit 65.4% of his shots from the floor, 26.5% from three point range and 70.8% of his free throws.  This was a good move for the Rockets.

Aaron Brooks was a puzzling pick in the first round for the Rockets as they already have two point guards ahead of him in Mike James and Rafer Alston.  Brooks is a little on the small side at 6′0″, 160 pounds but he’s a tough guy and he proved that in the Pac 10 at Oregon.  Brooks played in 115 games at Oregon and he averaged 13.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  Brooks also was a good shooter at Oregon as he hit 43% of his shots from the floor, 37.4% from the three point line and 83.4% from the free throw line.  Brooks will likely have a hard time getting playing time as a rookie.

The Rockets enter the 2007 in good shape as they only have two free agents (Dikembe Mutombo and Chuck Hayes).  The Rockets will likely look to bring back both of those players as long as the cost isn’t too high.  The Rockets will need to draft a young power forward in tonight’s draft because it’s the only position on the floor that they are not set at.  Even if they re-signed Hayes they would need to draft someone to either push him or beat him out for the starting job.  The Rockets only hold the #26 pick in the draft so they need to make it count.

The Rockets have acquired Mike James and Justin Reed for Juwan Howard.  Mike James will challenge Rafer Alston for the starting job at point guard in 2006-07.  James is coming off a bad season.  He played in 82 games last year for the Timberwolves and he averaged 10.1 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists.  He wound up shooting 42.2% from the floor, 37.2% from three-point range and 83.7% from the free throw line.  James has had a long NBA career, mostly served as a backup player.  In 409 career games, James has averaged 11.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.  He has hit 43.1% from the floor, 38.2% from three point range and 80.3% from the free throw line over his career.  James is a shoot-first point guard so it will be interesting to see how he fits in with them.  Justin Reed played in 40 games for the T-Wolves and he averaged 2.6 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  He shot 40.3% from the floor and 72.5% from the free throw line this season.  Reed will likely back up Chuck Hayes who will be the undisputed starter at power forward for the Rockets this season.  Reed has played in 136 games (9 starts) over his NBA career and he has averaged 2.6 points, 0.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. 

Juwan Howard was the starter at power forward for about half of the season before Chuck Hayes overtook him in the starting lineup.  Howard played in 80 games (38 starts) for the Rockets last season and he averaged 9.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.  He made 46.5% of his shots from the floor and 76.4% from the free throw line last year for the Rockets.