Houston Rockets trade second-round pick to Hawks for AJ Griffin

The Houston Rockets have traded the No. 44 overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft to the Atlanta Hawks, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported. In exchange, the Rockets received forward AJ Griffin. The former Duke prospect played 20 games with the Hawks last season and was a first-round pick (16th overall) in 2022.

Before knee injuries interfered with his development, Griffin showed his rookie chops during the 2022-23 season.

In 72 games played with a dozen starts, Griffin averaged 8.9 points with shooting times of .465/.390/.894. He scored a career-high 24 points in Atlanta’s 19-point win over the Milwaukee Bucks in November 2022. Griffin is the son of former NBA player and coach Adrian Griffin, who played with the Rockets during the 2003-24 season.

General manager Rafael Stone believes the Rockets came out of the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft with the “best player.” Houston drafted Reed Sheppard with the third overall pick; a prospect Stone has appreciated since his high school days at North Laurel High School.

Unless Houston goes back in the second round, the Rockets have wrapped up the 2024 NBA Draft. Stone said Wednesday night that he doesn’t think there’s a second-round prospect who could add value to the team’s roster. Houston.

“At this point, we don’t expect to hire anyone to fill a dire need,” Stone said. “We really love our team. We love all of our returning players. We think we don’t have any dire needs. »

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