Houston Bought Two Years of Kirk Snyder and Moved Down the Future-Pick Chain
Houston acquired Kirk Snyder from New Orleans/Oklahoma City on July 14, 2006 along with a 2008 second-round pick, while sending the Hornets a different 2008 second-round pick. Snyder gave the Rockets 48 regular-season games across two seasons, including 39 games in 2006-07, but never became a major rotation fixture. Houston later traded Snyder to Minnesota in February 2008 with another second-round pick for Gerald Green, so the direct player branch ended without producing a long Rockets tenure.
The Two 2008 Seconds Changed Hands Again Before Draft Night
The future picks should not be graded by simply assigning Sasha Kaun or Maarty Leunen to the team that received the pick in 2006. By the 2008 draft, Seattle held the No. 56 selection that became Kaun and then sold his rights to Cleveland. The No. 54 selection tied to Leunen had returned to Houston in the February 2008 three-team trade involving New Orleans, Houston and Memphis. Those later transactions show that both picks remained trade currency rather than clean one-team draft outcomes from this deal.
New Orleans Reused Its Pick in a Larger Win-Now Trade
New Orleans sent the 2008 second that later became No. 54 back to Houston on February 21, 2008 as part of the three-team trade in which the Hornets also sent Bobby Jackson, Adam Haluska and Marcus Vinicius while receiving Mike James and Bonzi Wells. Because several players moved in that transaction, the entire James-Wells return cannot be credited to this one second-round pick. The pick still retained transactional value, while Houston’s clearest directly attributable return from the 2006 deal was a modest 48-game Snyder stint.
The Two 2008 Picks Later Changed Hands Again
The two second-round choices eventually became No. 54 Maarty Leunen and No. 56 Sasha Kaun, but those draft names cannot simply be assigned to the original 2006 recipient. The No. 54 rights returned to Houston in a different three-team transaction involving New Orleans and Memphis, while Seattle held the later No. 56 choice and moved Kaun's rights to Cleveland. Those movements show why draft obligations are trade assets rather than guaranteed player returns. Houston's direct measurable benefit from the original trade was Kirk Snyder's 48 appearances across two seasons. New Orleans later reused the outgoing second within a much larger package for Mike James and Bonzi Wells, but that entire return cannot fairly be credited to one pick.
Final Verdict
Pelicans Win — New Orleans B, Houston C-. Houston received real value from Kirk Snyder, but only 48 regular-season games, and the incoming 2008 second did not remain with the Rockets through draft night. New Orleans later reused the outgoing Houston second as one component of a larger trade package that brought back Mike James and Bonzi Wells. The Hornets get the edge for preserving more transactional utility, while the grade deliberately avoids assigning the entire later three-team return to one second-round pick.