Houston Moved Down in the 2000 Draft to Add Another Pick
The Rockets traded the rights to Joel Przybilla to Milwaukee during the June 28, 2000 NBA draft, receiving the rights to Jason Collier and a protected future first-round selection. Milwaukee wanted a true center taken in the top ten, while Houston saw an opportunity to add two prospects instead of one. The immediate draft rights gave the Rockets a developing big man, and the protected future choice preserved another chance to select a guard or wing. The transaction was an exchange of draft capital before the players began their NBA careers.
Przybilla Developed Into a Milwaukee Interior Option
Przybilla joined Milwaukee's center group and spent several seasons with the Bucks. He offered rebounding, shot-blocking and a more traditional inside defensive role rather than a high-volume scoring game. Injuries interrupted parts of his Milwaukee tenure, but he still became a regular NBA presence and later built a long career with other franchises. Only the first Milwaukee years count toward this incoming transaction. His most durable later Portland seasons are not evidence that the Bucks retained the same center for that entire period.
Houston Got Collier and the Future Jeryl Sasser Selection
The Rockets used Collier during the early 2000s and eventually received the deferred first-round pick. That selection reached the 2001 draft as No. 22 and was used on Jeryl Sasser. Both prospects played regular-season NBA games for Houston, showing that the package was not simply a set of empty rights. Neither player established the kind of sustained frontcourt rotation role that Przybilla later supplied for Milwaukee, but the two selections offered Houston separate development paths. The inherited Rockets D- grade was too dismissive of those genuine NBA opportunities.
Milwaukee's Center Had the More Enduring Team Contribution
Both organizations received NBA players instead of leaving their acquired rights unused. Houston diversified its draft investment, while Milwaukee concentrated value in a larger center whose defensive specialty gave him a longer initial NBA role. That tradeoff was reasonable in 2000 when the players had not yet proved themselves. Retrospectively, Przybilla's years of Bucks interior duty outperformed the shorter individual Rockets stints. The result supports a Milwaukee win with positive, not extreme, grades for both sides, rather than treating Houston's extra first-round selection as worthless.
Final Verdict
Bucks Win. Milwaukee earns B+ for Joel Przybilla's multi-season center presence after acquiring his draft rights in 2000. Houston earns C+ because Jason Collier played NBA games for the Rockets and the later first-round choice became No. 22 Jeryl Sasser in 2001. Houston received two real prospects, but Milwaukee obtained the steadier direct frontcourt return.