2011 NBA Draft: Houston Rockets Add Size, Athleticism and Versatility

Many believe NBA championships are won by dominating the paint with a strong frontcourt.

Apparently, the Houston Rockets have bought into that strategy. 

The Rockets selected Kansas' Marcus Morris with the 14th overall pick in this year's NBA draft, one year after taking Patrick Patterson, another power forward, in the first round.

Houston also drafted Florida's Chandler Parsons, and shipped Brad Miller, the draft rights to Montenegro's Nikola Mirotic and a future first-rounder to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Jonny Flynn and the draft rights to Lithuania's Donatas Motiejunas. 

By night's end, the Rockets came away with three draft picks, all 6'9" or taller. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. 

"[Head coach Kevin McHale] just wanted people taller than him on the team," Daryl Morey joked. "Really, we went with who we felt was the best guy there each time. As you know, we're a team trying to reestablish our foundation. 

"We're very value-oriented in the draft because, right now, we need to continue to try and upgrade the talent on our team. Right now, we just need to get the best players we can."

As of today, Houston's roster holds Scola, Patterson, Morris, Motiejunas and Jordan Hill, all at the power forward position, not to mention free agent Chuck Hayes, who wants to return to the Rockets next season.

With a slew of horses in the power forward stable, Houston's rotation will definitely fluctuate. 

The team is confident in Morris, though, and plans to utilize his versatility, citing his ability to play the three.

"[Morris] is an all-around, good player, and his upside is he can play small forward," said Arturas Karnisovas, Rockets global scout. "He's just tough. We were looking for a versatile guy that can do many things, and that's what he does.

"He's been a great player on the college level, and we're sure that he can do it on the NBA level."

Playing alongside twin brother Markieff, Marcus Morris put up laudable numbers at KU, and played well on both sides of the court. 

Morris accounted for 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, numbers that inflated every year through his junior campaign. 

He is excited to play for Houston despite the congestion at the four. Morris, too, believes he can bring athleticism to the position and a tenacity to the team.

"I know Houston has great guards that can create in Kyle [Lowry] and Kevin [Martin], so I think I can feed off those guys and be a great fit," Morris said. "It was kind of hard, one of my harder ones, but I think I had a great workout with the team. [I showed the team] what I do.

"I score the ball, and I defend. I'm not a guy that plays outside of my game."

Even though landing arguably the better Morris was a nice feat for the Rockets, the team's trade with the Timberwolves may be the bigger story of the night.

Motiejunas was a highly touted player in Houston, undoubtedly a draft target coming into the night. 

The international seven-footer is an overall athlete. He passes well, and he shoots even better. Last year, he shot close to 53 percent from the field and 43 percent behind the arc.

Joining him is the high-flying Flynn, possibly pushing Goran Dragic back in the depth chart. 

Flynn, the sixth overall pick in the 2009 draft, had a productive rookie season (28.9 MPG, 13.5 PPG, 4.4 APG, 41.7 percent shooting), before seeing injury and limited playing time in his second year. 

Splitting time with Lowry, Flynn gives the Rockets a good one-two punch at the point.

"We were thrilled to pick up Jonny Flynn tonight," said Morey. "Brad Miller was someone we really hated to lose. It's tough to lose Brad, but Jonny is someone we've had our eye on. He brings a real defensive component. That's nice to have there."

Round 2 brought Parsons, who has the tools to make a pretty good role player.

In his senior year at Florida, the 6'10" forward put up 11.3 points (48 percent shooting), 3.8 assists and 7.8 rebounds in 34 minutes per game, doing a little bit of it all.

"Parsons is someone we didn't expect to be available so late," Morey said. "We think he's a first-round quality player. He's someone who can potentially come in and win minutes over time."

By adding youth to the forward positions, some may argue Scola's days in Houston are numbered.

Scola, 31, has drawn interest around the league as a trade chip.

Pairing the marketable big man with any number of players from a pool of youth and talent, Houston has the makes of a major player in the trade market.

"We really like our players. We're not looking to do moves just to do moves, but we're looking at all avenues," Morey said. "We're going to see, of these players, which ones compete, which ones help us win the most, and at the same time, look for opportunities to upgrade the team more."