The Houston Rockets strategy of acquiring oodles of draft picks over the last three years has paid off yet again. With just a 20 percent chance of moving up from their ninth spot in the draft, the ping pong balls bounced their way landing them the number three pick in this summer’s draft.
What is even more satisfying is that this was not their own pick, but one of the draft picks they received as compensation in the James Harden trade to Brooklyn. Their own pick — number 12 overall — went to Oklahoma City as part of the Russel Westbrook deal.
In the last three drafts, the Rockets have picked second (Jalen Green), third (Jabari Smith, Jr.) and fourth (Amen Thompson). They have also landed Alperen Sengun (2021), Tari Eason (2022) and Cam Whitmore (2023) as well. All have played a significant role in the Rockets improvement with Sengun falling just shy of All-Star status and Green exploding in the second half of the 2023-24 season. All six are considered part of the team’s young core.
The question will be whether or not GM Rafael Stone will keep the overall third pick or trade it along with some other assets to snag a veteran. There has been a lot of talk that with the Rockets improvements this past season they would be aggressive in the offseason to make a deal that would bring in someone who could improve the team immediately instead of another high draft pick.
The 2024 draft is not considered particularly deep or talented, but the third overall selection should have quite a bit of value for a team looking to get younger and more athletic. The Rockets biggest needs this offseason include shooting and rim protection. They will get some help on that latter need with Steven Adams, who should be ready for training camp after being traded here during the last season. But, they desperately need a great shooter.
Could number three turn into that? We shall see.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
