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Rockets select Zhou, Onuaku in 2nd round of NBA draft
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THE Houston Rockets added a pair of big men in the second round of the NBA draft on Thursday night — Louisville’s Chinanu Onuaku and Chinese center Zhou Qi.
The 2.08-meter Onuaku was selected 37th overall and Zhou was selected 43rd on a night where Houston didn’t have a first-round pick because of a past trade.
The Rockets will need some depth at center with Dwight Howard likely to opt out of the last year of his contract and become a free agent this summer. But draft analyses of these players indicate that it would be unlikely for them to be ready to contribute in meaningful ways as rookies.
Even though Howard hasn’t officially opted out, Onuaku mentioned Howard’s likely departure and said he’s excited about getting a chance to take his position. The 19-year-old Onuaku, who played two seasons at Louisville, averaged 9.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and two blocks a game last season to earn a spot on the All-ACC Defensive team.
There was some concern about his health after he had a procedure to fix a heart rhythm issue in May after it was detected during physicals at the NBA combine. The condition is called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and the surgery to fix the problem has been described as minor.
Zhou comes to the NBA after a two-year career with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association. He joins a team that drafted Yao Ming first overall in 2002. Yao was on a conference call on Thursday night to help translate and welcome Zhou to the team.
He averaged 15.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in his two seasons with the Flying Tigers. He also averaged 3.3 and 3.2 blocks in his two seasons there to lead the CBA.
The 20-year-old Zhou will need to add some weight since he weighs just 210 pounds. He is a rare 2.13m with outside shooting ability. He has a solid mid-ranger jumper and began to hone his 3-point shooting skills this season when he made nine of 15 from long-range after sinking just one of 10 as a rookie.
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