"Luis Scola had spent draft night at Toyota Center and got a brief scouting report on the players the Rockets selected. But as the months passed, he largely forgot what he had been told about Chandler Parsons, the third of the Rockets' three picks.

"Usually you don't expect much from somebody taken late in the middle of the second round," Scola said. "Those guys maybe make the team, maybe doesn't.

"But the people in the front office told me, 'This guy can play. We're really happy with him.' I said, 'Yeah, OK. Great.'??"

The tone of his reaction was somewhat subdued, roughly the same as others who reacted to the Rockets' selection with the 38th pick that night last June.

By the time the NBA got around to training camp and Parsons and the Rockets had worked their way through the salary-cap manipulations needed to sign him, Scola had long since put that draft-night conversation of his mind.

Then Parsons finally practiced.

"The first day he was finally cleared to practice and he just kills it," Scola said.

"Put-backs. Dunks. Threes. Passing the ball. Making plays out of pick-and-roll, out of the three spot, out of the four spot. I was like 'Who the hell is this guy?' I turn around to the coach, 'Hey, what's this guy's name?' He say, 'Chandler.' So I say, "Good job, Chandler.'"