In one of the big steals of the 2001 NBA draft, the Rockets traded their 3 first-rounders -- #13, #18, and #23 -- to New Jersey for the #7 pick used on Eddie Griffin, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.  Griffin, who can play either forward position for the Rockets, was the Rockets' most coveted player in the draft.  And while there are concerns about a couple of punches Griffin has thrown in school, Fran Blinebury writes that all the Rockets' research didn't really reveal him to be a bad seed.



In another draft-night trade, the Rockets traded a future first-rounder to Atlanta for the rights to #34, Terence Morris, for whom Steve Francis had been pushing.  The first-rounder traded was from the Mirsad Turkcan trade.  It is owed by Detroit but can be any team's pick; there is no protection but it will be given at Detroit's option at or before the 2004 draft.