Rockets “stonewalled” in attempts to bring Evan Mobley and Jalen Suggs in for workouts

ESPN is ramping up their NBA Draft coverage, with Woj and Zach Lowe dropping their annual pre-draft special early Sunday afternoon.

But the biggest piece of news today came from Jonathan Givony, founder of Draft Express and currently an analyst at ESPN. In his mock draft (ESPN+ required), Givony states that executives see Jalen Green as a lock at #2. Additionally, he mentions:

It doesn’t help that the Rockets have been stonewalled in their attempts to bring in Evan Mobley and Jalen Suggs for private workouts. Houston is casting a wide net in an attempt to capture as much player data for future transactions as possible, something that has been met with a mixed reaction in the industry.

It’s odd that in these times of limited workouts, two of the top 4 players on most draft boards are refusing to meet with the team with the second overall pick. Either Mobley and Suggs’s camps believe that Houston is locked into Green at #2 (or Cunningham in a trade up to #1), or they just...don’t want to be drafted by Houston and see Cleveland and Toronto as better landing spots. The first hypothesis seems more likely than the second, since it really makes no sense for a player not to work out for a team drafting at a higher spot than where the player is projected to be drafted.

As for the “mixed reaction in the industry,” I’m not sure why anyone would be upset with Houston for making phone calls and trying to get as much intel as possible. With three first round picks and an obvious desire to move up from their current draft positions, of course the Rockets want to know about players that might be available in the late lottery, along with others.

With the draft just four days away, the rumors and leaks are going to be fast and furious. We’ll have more updates and discussion leading into Thursday’s big decision.