The Houston Rockets have taken 20-year old PF Terrence Jones out of Kentucky with the 18th overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft. Jones is 6′9″, 252 pounds. He played in 38 games for Kentucky last year and he averaged 29.3 minutes, 12.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.8 blocked shots per game. Jones played in 76 games in his two years with the Wildcats and he averaged 30.4 minutes, 14.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.8 blocked shots per game. This was a good pick for the Rockets as Jones is solid at both ends of the basketball court.

The Houston Rockets picked 21-year old power forward Royce White out of Iowa State with the 16th overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft. White is 6′8″, 270 pounds. White played in 34 games at Iowa State last year (his only one in college) and he averaged 31.5 minutes, 13.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. White shot 53.4% from the floor but only 49.8% from the free throw line last year, so he has some things to work on. That being said, he also has a huge upside.

The Houston Rockets have selected 20-year old shooting guard Jeremy Lamb out of Connecticut with the 12th overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft. Lamb is 6′5″, 180 pounds. Lamb played in 34 games for the Huskies last year and he averaged 37.2 minutes, 17.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He played in 75 games in his two years at Connecticut and he averaged 32.1 minutes, 14.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Lamb is likely going to push Kevin Martin for the starting shooting guard spot in 2012-13.

UPDATE: (10/29/2012) - The Rockets have dealt Jeremy Lamb to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of the James Harden deal.

The Houston Rockets are armed with the #14 and #16 picks in this month’s NBA Draft. I think they are going to get two really good players as this draft is deeper than it has been as of late. In my mock draft found on bloglockers.com, I have the Rockets taking SG Austin Rivers out of Duke with the 14th overall pick. I have the Rockets taking power forward John Henson out of North Carolina with the 16th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. This would be a great haul for the Rockets.

The Rockets picked 22-year old, 6′10″, 215 pound power forward Chandler Parsons with the #38 overall pick. They then traded him to the Timberwolves as part of the Jonny Flynn deal. The Rockets then sent cash to the Timberwolves to send Parsons back to the Rockets. Parsons played in 36 games for the Florida Gators last year and he averaged 34.1 minutes, 11.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. He played in 4 years in college and he averaged 27.9 minutes, 10.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Parsons gives the Rockets another big body to help up front.

The Rockets acquired 20-year old, 7′0″, 222 pound power forward Donatas Motiejunas who was playing in Italy, as part of the Jonny Flynn deal with the Timberwolves. Motiejunas was taken by the Timberwolves with the #20 overall pick. Motiejunas played in 46 games for two teams last year in Europe and he averaged 26.3 minutes, 12.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.6 steals per game. He has played in 148 games in four years in Europe and he averaged 23.7 minutes, 12.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game. If Motiejunas stays motivated (and I think Kevin McHale will be able to), then the Rockets will have a nice player.

The Houston Rockets picked 21-year old, 6′9″, 235 pound forward Marcus Morris with the 14th pick of the 2011 NBA Draft. Morris was picked just seven minutes after his twin brother (Markieff) was picked by the Phoenix Suns. The significance of the 7 minutes is that it is also the amount of time that was between the Morris brothers when they were born. Morris played in 38 games last year for Kansas and he averaged 28.3 minutes, 17.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Morris played in 109 games in three years in college and he averaged 24.0 minutes, 12.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. The Rockets probably will use Morris at small forward where he will challenge Chase Budinger for P.T.

The Houston Rockets have acquired 22-year old point guard Jonny Flynn and the #20 overall pick, power forward Donatas Motiejunas out of Lithuania for 35-year old center Brad Miller, the 23rd overall pick (forward Nikola Mirotic), #38 overall pick (forward Chandler Parsons) and a future first round pick that belonged to the Grizzlies. Jonny Flynn played in 53 games (8 starts) for the Timberwolves last year and he averaged 18.5 minutes, 5.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He has now played in 134 games (89 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 24.8 minutes, 10.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Flynn will likely back up Kyle Lowry at point guard in 2011-12. Brad Miller just underwent microfracture surgery not too long ago, so he wasn’t going to play for a while for the Rockets anyway. Miller played in 60 games (5 starts) last year with the Rockets (his only year with the team) and he averaged 16.9 minutes, 6.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

UPDATE: (6/27/2011) - The Rockets received an extra second round pick in this deal due to Jonny Flynn’s hip condition.

The Houston Rockets are armed with the #14, #23 and #38 overall picks heading into Thursday’s NBA Draft. The Rockets will likely have to use their top choice on a center. With that in mind, I think they will take Nikola Vucevic out of USC. The Rockets also had a need at small forward and they will have a lot to choose from at #23. Jordan Hamilton, Tobias Harris, Tyler Honeycutt and Marcus Morris should be available with the Rockets’ 2nd pick in the first round, so they should have no problem finding a solid small forward. The Rockets will likely use the #38 overall pick on the best player available as long as they get a SF and C with their first two picks.

The Houston Rockets have selected SF/PF Patrick Patterson with the 14th overall pick of the NBA Draft. Patterson played in 38 games (all starts) for Kentucky in which he averaged 14.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game. Patterson played in 97 games (all starts) in his three years with the Rockets and he averaged 16.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game. Patterson gives the Rockets another outstanding athlete who can run the court with the best of them.