Axel Hervelle (52nd pick, 2005)
- Hervelle became Rockets property after a uniquely trivial training camp-time trade in 2009, the returning piece in a deal that saw Houston salary dump
James White, who they were going to cut anyway. Hervelle's draft rights were more palatable to Houston than those of the aforementioned Sani Becirovic and Xue Yuyang for the simple yet important reason that he's better - Axel is, and has always been, a decent player. His stock burned brighter a couple of years ago when he averaged roughly 10/6 for Real Madrid in Euroleague play, yet it's long burned brighter than those two. Hervelle plies his trade as a little-things forward; tall and long for a forward, if not especially strong or athletic, Hervelle rebounds, defends, scraps, passes, and occasionally hits some jumpers. However, he never developed beyond this role, never creating any reliable offensive options or means of scoring on his own, always remaining a role player at the ACB level. And in averaging 5.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.6 steals in 19 minutes per game for Bilbao this summer, Hervelle is not doing anything to leap off the page.
Chances of making the NBA expressed as an arbitrary percentage: 2%
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