Houston Rockets draft history

[1] However, in 1985, the draft was shortened to seven rounds, and in 1989, the NBA agreed with the National Basketball Players' Association to limit drafts to two rounds, an arrangement that has remained the same up the present time.

[2] Before each draft, an NBA draft lottery determines the first round selection order for the teams that missed the playoffs during the prior season.

[3] In 1968, the Rockets selected Elvin Hayes, who became an eventual Hall of Famer and one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players, with the first pick of the draft.

[4] The Rockets again had the first pick of the draft in 1984, after winning a coin flip for the first pick against the Portland Trail Blazers, and they used it to select Hakeem Olajuwon, who later led the Rockets to two consecutive NBA championships in 1994 and 1995.

[5] In 2002, the Rockets won the first pick of the 2002 NBA draft through the lottery, and they chose Yao Ming, who became a six-time All-Star[6] before his career was prematurely ended by chronic foot and ankle injuries.