Rockets avoid lottery meltdown, won't send No. 2 pick to Thunder

The Houston Rockets' prayers to the lottery gods have been answered.

Rather than convey their 2021 first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Rockets will select 2nd overall in the NBA draft on July 29 following Tuesday's draft lottery.

Had Houston slid outside the top four, the Thunder would have exercised their swap rights, sending the 18th overall pick to the Rockets for Houston's first-rounder. Those swap rights were built into the 2019 blockbuster that sent Chris Paul to the Thunder for Russell Westbrook.

The Thunder now own the No. 18 selection, which originally belonged to the Miami Heat before a series of trades dating back to 2015; the pick came to Oklahoma City from the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2019 Paul George trade.