The Houston Rockets picked 21-year old, 6′9″, 235 pound forward Marcus Morris with the 14th pick of the 2011 NBA Draft. Morris was picked just seven minutes after his twin brother (Markieff) was picked by the Phoenix Suns. The significance of the 7 minutes is that it is also the amount of time that was between the Morris brothers when they were born. Morris played in 38 games last year for Kansas and he averaged 28.3 minutes, 17.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Morris played in 109 games in three years in college and he averaged 24.0 minutes, 12.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. The Rockets probably will use Morris at small forward where he will challenge Chase Budinger for P.T.

The Houston Rockets have acquired 22-year old point guard Jonny Flynn and the #20 overall pick, power forward Donatas Motiejunas out of Lithuania for 35-year old center Brad Miller, the 23rd overall pick (forward Nikola Mirotic), #38 overall pick (forward Chandler Parsons) and a future first round pick that belonged to the Grizzlies. Jonny Flynn played in 53 games (8 starts) for the Timberwolves last year and he averaged 18.5 minutes, 5.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He has now played in 134 games (89 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 24.8 minutes, 10.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Flynn will likely back up Kyle Lowry at point guard in 2011-12. Brad Miller just underwent microfracture surgery not too long ago, so he wasn’t going to play for a while for the Rockets anyway. Miller played in 60 games (5 starts) last year with the Rockets (his only year with the team) and he averaged 16.9 minutes, 6.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

UPDATE: (6/27/2011) - The Rockets received an extra second round pick in this deal due to Jonny Flynn’s hip condition.

The Rockets only have three free agents heading into this off-season, which is good. Backup point guard Goran Dragic will be back for the Rockets in 2011-12 as they have a team option on his deal. C/PF Chuck Hayes will likely have other suitors in free agency, so the Rockets will have to determine if they want to pay the price to bring him back. Yao Ming is also a free agent and I think the Rockets should let him leave if he gets a decent offer. It just doesn’t make sense to waste any more money on Yao who has proven that he just can’t stay healthy and that’s a shame.

35-year old center Brad Miller hopes to be ready to return to the Rockets in January of 2012 after having microfracture surgery on his left knee. Miller played in 60 games (5 starts) in his first season with the Rockets and he averaged 16.9 minutes, 6.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Miller has now played in 853 games (597 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 28.6 minutes, 11.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He proved last season that he had a little bit left in the gas tank so the Rockets hope he’s ready to return to action in January.

The Houston Rockets have signed 53-year old Kevin McHale to a 3-year deal to take over as the team’s head coach. McHale last was a head coach in the NBA back in 2008-09 with the Timberwolves and he was 20-43 (31.7%). He has coached parts of two years in the NBA and he is 39-55 (41.5%). McHale was elected into Basketball’s Hall of Fame as a player back in 1999. He played in 971 games in his NBA career and he averaged 31.0 minutes, 17.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game. The Rockets must be hoping that McHale can coach up the team based on how good of a player he was. The Rockets have a lot of talent on the roster, so they might not be too patient with McHale if he gets the team off to a slow start.