A painful five-game losing streak was very fatal for the Houston Rockets, and although the team rebounded for a while, it ultimately fell short and unfortunately missed the play-offs. Of course, the Rockets and fans don't need to be too frustrated, combined with the whole season, the Rockets' performance has met or even exceeded outside expectations, and the team is in the second phase of rebuilding, so how to adjust and upgrade the roster in the offseason is the most important task for the management.
Local media TheRinger predicted the current draft ranking, because the Rockets have a first-round pick from the Nets and are expected to be around the 9th pick. The media believes that the Rockets could consider Cody Williams, a multi-wing wing from the University of Colorado, who has basically booked lottery qualification and is also the younger brother of Jalen Williams, the second leader of the Thunder.
Although he is only 19 years old now, Cody Williams has shown a stable lower limit, he can average 14.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game this season, and the overall shooting rate is nearly 6 percent, so Cody Williams has a strong ability to seize opportunities. Similar to his brother, Cody Williams is not only outstanding in terms of physical fitness, athleticism and hard conditions, but also has a well-rounded technique, whether it is a strong ball or an outside projection, Cody Williams has performed well. And his biggest selling point is that he can defend opponents in multiple positions, in theory, in addition to the traditional center, other normal 1-4 positions, and even some small-ball centers, Cody Williams can limit them.
If there is a shortcoming, it is that Cody Williams' independent offensive ability is not stable enough, which makes him not too top-notch even in the epic draft. Of course, for a team like the Rockets, Cody Williams' disadvantage is not a big problem, because the Rockets' own ball distribution is very problematic, Fred VanVleet will still stay on the team, Jalen Green and Alperen Shenjing's dual core still needs to be run-in, not to mention Tari Eason, Cam Whitmore and Jabari Smith also have to hold the ball, the Rockets are in need of defensive experts or all-round forwards.
If you really want to choose Cody Williams, judging from the current configuration of the Rockets lineup, Houston is going to form a luxury forward group. Because if you include Jabari Smith, who plays the small ball five position, the Rockets have plenty of personnel at the forward position, and there are players such as Tari Ethan, Dillon Brooks, Jaesha Tate and Cam Whitmore, and at some point the Rockets may even send five forwards at the same time and play well.