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The Houston Rockets may not get Dwight Howard on draft day, but it won't be for lack of trying. The Rockets traded the 14th pick in the draft and Sam Dalembert to the Milwaukee Bucks for their 12th pick in Thursday night's draft. Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news, and it's since been confirmed elsewhere.
The Bucks also included Jon Brockman, Jon Leuer, and Shaun Livingston as throw-ins in the deal. But the big picture has the Rockets inching a little further up the draft order, and remaining in prime position to deal their way into the top ten. After a trade with the Timberwolves earlier this week netted them the 18th pick in the draft, Houston now has no. 18, no. 16, and no. 12. For the Bucks, they get a quality big man in Dalembert while only moving down two slots in the draft.
And again, Houston's goal here would seem to be packaging these picks for a trade into the upper half of the top 10, and then packaging that pick in a deal for Orlando's Dwight Howard. Will it work? Time will tell, but the Rockets are clearly leaving no stone unturned as the draft approaches.
For more on the Rockets, visit The Dream Shake and SB Nation Houston.