Houston Rockets in Strong Draft Position After Landing No. 3 Pick

The Rockets should have plenty of viable options at the 2024 NBA Draft.

Dec 19, 2022; Houston, Texas, USA; against the Houston Rockets general manager Rafael Stone smiles / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Against all odds (about 4.5%, to be exact) the Houston Rockets jumped up six spots to nab the No. 3 pick in the NBA Draft.

It was one of the better case scenarios for the Rockets, who after putting together a much-improved 41-41 season, will be selecting via the Nets’ unprotected first rounder gathered in the James Harden trade years ago.

Even with a near-75% chance at landing in slot nine or 10, The selection was already icing on the cake for Houston, whose young core is comprised of Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore, all boast an age of 22 or younger. 

The pick landing at No. 3 made the icing that much sweeter.

Houston now has more options than before, even outside of selecting from a talented group of players. There’s more than a few teams who could be looking to move towards a youth movement as early as next season, and a top-three selection would undoubtedly jumpstart that.

The Rockets will likely field plenty of those calls, assessing each to see if it could drastically improve their odds next season.

If they don’t feel great about the return value of win-now players, there's a myriad of players they could choose from. Those like Reed Sheppard and Donovan Clingan fill immediate needs in shooting and rim protection, respectively. And players like Matas Buzelis, Nikola Topic and more offers upside swings that could send the team into the stratosphere.

Regardless, the team has lucked into a much better position this offseason, and will now need to capitalize on it for the impending seasons.

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