The Rockets tried to move up to the 20th pick, and had a deal arranged with Miami. But as the draft unfolded, the deal was lost. The 76ers acquired the Heat pick to take Jason Smith of Colorado State. The Heat moved back one slot to select Daequan Cook of Ohio State.

The Rockets would have used the pick to take Spanish guard Rudy Fernandez, who brings tremendous speed, though he likely will remain overseas for one more season.

Fernandez went two picks before the Rockets' selection, with the Trail Blazers moving up to snag him with the Suns' pick. The Rockets then grabbed Brooks, getting the speed they coveted, though in a smaller (5-10 1/2 ) package.

"We didn't know (the trade would fall through) until the pick," Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said. "The direction we had gotten from the team up until that point was we were getting it. Then the draft unfolded unexpectedly for them, and their guy was there.

"We didn't get the top guy we were looking for, but Aaron was the next guy. We feel very good coming out with Aaron."

The Orlando Magic have traded a second round pick (54th overall) in the 2007 NBA Draft to the Houston Rockets in exchange for cash considerations, General Manager Otis Smith announced this afternoon.

Orlando owns pick #44 during tonight?s draft.

Before the Rockets begin the business of this season's draft, they will turn toward a player taken last season.

Lior Eliyahu, whom the Rockets picked up with the Orlando Magic's second-round pick last season, arrived in Houston on Tuesday and will begin working out with Rockets coaches today in preparation for next month's summer league in Las Vegas.

Though the Rockets got the rights to Eliyahu, expecting him to need at least two more seasons in Europe, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said Tuesday that Eliyahu's performance in workouts and summer league could determine if Eliyahu, a 6-9, 225-pound forward, earns a spot on next season's roster.

That would be fine with Eliyahu, but he said he also needs the next few weeks to learn if he is ready.

"In Israel it is the dream to be the first to play in the NBA," Eliyahu said. "I played last year for Maccabi Tel Aviv and had a pretty good season. (The Rockets) wanted for me, and any player, to come here and see the difference in playing in the NBA."

Rockets swingman Bonzi Wells exercised the option on the final year of his contract Monday.

Wells originally signed a two-year deal before last season with an option to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. But he averaged 7.8 points and 4.3 rebounds in just 28 games this campaign.

However, Rockets GMDaryl Morey still thinks Wells can be a significant contributor.

China's All Star NBA centre Yao Ming will wed his teenage sweetheart from Shanghai in August, after an eight-year courtship, state press reported Monday.

Yao, who has kept his love life closely guarded from the media, will marry Ye Li in a private family ceremony possibly in Shanghai, the eastern metropolis where they were born, met and began dating, the Titan Sports Weekly said.

"This is a match based on pure love," the paper said.

The 2.26 metre (seven-foot-six-inch) centre first met Ye in 1999 when he was playing for the Shanghai Sharks men's team and the 1.9 metre Ye was with the club's women's team.

For all the uncertainty involved with having the 26th pick in the NBA draft, there is one thing Rockets general manager Daryl Morey does know.

In the annual balancing between finding the best player available and one who will most likely fill holes, Morey has no difficulty assessing the importance of fitting a player's talents with the Rockets' needs.

That would be zero, or near zero, for 26, Morey said of the emphasis placed on need.

"We're a team that's a few solid moves away versus years away from being very competitive," Morey said. "Given that, the player we pick there is more for the future than for the now."

Tracy McGrady, on Kevin Durant's disappointing showing in the weight room: "When I was his age, I couldn't bench press 185 myself."

Veteran guard Bonzi Wells plans to stick with the Houston Rockets during the 2007-08 season, his agent told a Houston television station on Saturday.

"Bonzi has sent in the necessary paperwork and he is opting in, and he will play for the Rockets this coming season," Bill Duffy told KRIV.

Even though Wells had signed a two-year contract with the Rockets, he could have opted out of the deal this offseason.

Rockets spokesman Nelson Luis told The Associated Press on Saturday night that the team hasn't received any paperwork so far from Wells.

New coach Rick Adelman's arrival raised the possibility of Wells' return to Houston. The temperamental Wells hardly played last season, sidelined with various injuries and a rift with coach Jeff Van Gundy.

But Wells had a productive 2005-06 season under Adelman in Sacramento and averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds in the playoffs.

Though it is still unclear whether Vassilis Spanoulis will play for either team next season, Spanoulis' current club will host his old one in a highlight game on the Rockets' preseason schedule.

The Rockets will host Panathinaikos on Oct. 11 in their first preseason game at Toyota Center. Spanoulis starred for Panathinaikos, this season's Euroleague champion, before joining the Rockets.

The Rockets will begin the preseason in New Orleans against the Hornets on Oct. 9 and end it on Oct. 26 against the NBA champion Spurs in San Antonio.

The Houston Rockets, who re-acquired guard Mike James for Juwan Howard last week, appear willing to make more trades ahead of next week's NBA Draft, the Houston Chronicle is reporting.

Vassilis Spanoulis already has all but written his own ticket out of town, telling the team recently that he will not participate in the summer league next month. The Rockets apparently are trying to snag one of the Mavericks' three second-round draft picks in exchange for Spanoulis.

The Los Angeles Clippers also appear to be discussing trading forward James Singleton (6-8, 215 pounds) to the Rockets in a deal that would involve John Lucas III.

And the Los Angeles Lakers are contemplating a deal involving guard Luther Head in exchange for power forward Brian Cook.