Cade Cunningham seems to be the presumptive number one overall pick, and it looks like the Houston Rockets will look to trade up for him.
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After a disastrous season, the Houston Rockets finished with the worst record in the NBA, and held the best odds to land the first overall pick along with the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Draft Lottery was a stressful time for Rockets fan, however, as if their pick landed outside the top four, it would go to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Things bounced the right way for Houston though, and they ended up with the second overall pick. Now, it looks like the Rockets are in play to move up to number one and land Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham.
The Rockets are pursuing the No. 1 overall pick from the Pistons, according to our #NBA Insider @ShamsCharania.
Check out Draft Decisions, presented by @FDSportsbook. pic.twitter.com/RbczE1OHkT
— Stadium Bets (@StadiumBets) July 24, 2021
Will The Houston Rockets Trade For The First Overall Pick And Draft Cade Cunningham?
Cade Cunningham is believed to be the number one overall pick for his tremendous play during his time at Oklahoma State.
He averaged an incredible 20.1 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, and 3.5 assists per game. Cunningham was named Big 12 Player of the Year as he joined only three other freshmen to take home the honors.
He was unanimously selected to the All-Big 12 First Team, All Freshman Team, and All-Newcomer Team. His college career is fantastic, and for that reason, people believe he’s the best player available who can translate his game to the NBA.
Detroit certainly has his eyes on him as does Cade as he’s already said that he loves the city.
Cade Cunningham on his impressions of the city of Detroit pic.twitter.com/jIXItQYGx7
— Rod Beard (@detnewsRodBeard) July 23, 2021
However, Houston isn’t out of the picture yet. If they can string together a strong offer for the Pistons, they may just move up and select the guard in probably the biggest trade of the NBA draft.
What could Houston offer as assets? Well, they’ll certainly give Detroit the number two overall pick, but they’ll probably need to cough up several future picks as well along with maybe a player. They have young assets in Kevin Porter Jr, Kenyon Martin Jr, and Jae’Sean Tate, but the Rockets probably won’t want to give any of them up.
Other than those players, they have veterans like Eric Gordon, but a rebuilding team like Detroit probably won’t want to take on the extra salary, especially if it means losing the number one overall pick. A trade will be difficult, but the Houston front office isn’t going to give up just yet.
