HOUSTON – The Houston Rockets selected G-League Ignite star guard Jalen Green with the No. 2 overall pick Thursday in the NBA Draft.
Green, 19, was the one-rated guard in the draft and second overall prospect. He is 6′6″ and is expected to be a shooting guard in the league.
Rockets fans react to the team drafting @JalenGreen pic.twitter.com/0rmD6KY4co
— Ari Alexander (@KPRC2Ari) July 30, 2021
Green averaged 17.7 points per game for Ignite and shot 36.5% from the three-point range. He’s very athletic, can create off the dribble, and as his numbers show he is consistent from long range.
Jalen Green (@JalenGreen) from the @NBAGLeague Ignite gets selected 2nd overall by the @HoustonRockets!
— NBA (@NBA) July 30, 2021
2021 #NBADraft presented by State Farm pic.twitter.com/V1oDCJZcEO
Green won gold medals with USA Basketball at the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup, 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup, and 2017 FIBA Americas U16 Championship.
The #Rockets move up to #16 in trade with OKC and get Center Alperen Sengun ..a Turkish League star.
— Randy McIlvoy (@KPRC2RandyMc) July 30, 2021
The only other time the Rockets drafted a player second overall was in 1970 with the selection of Rudy Tomjanovich. Houston also acquired the draft rights to Steve Francis, who was the No. 2 overall pick by Vancouver in the 1999 NBA Draft. Including Francis, the second overall pick has produced 16 Rookie of the Year winners, most recently Ja Morant in 2019-20 and Kevin Durant in 2007-08.
The Rockets had a busy night ahead being in the first round of the draft for the first time as a franchise since 2015.
The team traded with Oklahoma City Thunder to select center Alperen Sengun, a Turkish League star, with the 16th pick and closed out the round with Usman Alari and Joshua Christopher, with the 23rd and 24th picks respectively.