Rockets Draft: The Case for Selecting Matas Buzelis

In the 2024 NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets should consider selecting Ignite prospect Matas Buzelis.

In roughly three weeks, the NBA Draft Lottery will take place, as the final draft order will be finalized for teams with lottery selections. The Houston Rockets are projected to pick just inside of the top 10 via the Brooklyn Nets, even though Houston doesn’t have its own pick. A pick in that range will allow the Rockets to add one of the more promising players in this class. 

Although there isn’t a clear top prospect in the 2024 NBA Draft at this point, there is quite a bit of variability in who could be available when the Rockets are on the clock. With that in mind, if Matas Buzelis is on the board when Houston drafts, he should be someone the front office heavily considers. 

Although he played on a G League Ignite team that wasn’t very competitive last season, Buzelis still made an impact on winning. He did struggle given he was playing professionally at 19 years old — and also battled an injury early in the season — but got better as the season went on. 

Buzelis finished the recent season averaging 14.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per contest. He converted on just 27.3% of his triples, but it’s important to remember that he was shooting from the NBA 3-point line. Buzelis will need to get stronger in order to reach his ceiling as a combo forward, but either way, he has intriguing guard skills at his size and projects to be a quality shooter. 

If he were to be added to the Rockets’ roster for next season, Buzelis would be a fascinating piece to play alongside Jabari Smith. For the Rockets to take that next step now and into the future, Amen Thompson will need space to operate and get to the rim. Buzelis is 6-foot-10 and Smith is 6-foot-11, which would mean positional size and shooting for the Rockets on the wings that would provide spacing.

Again, while Buzelis struggled from beyond the arc in the G League, his shooting mechanics and high school tape suggest he will be a very good 3-point shooter once he gets acquainted to the league. 

If Buzelis is still available when the Rockets are on the clock in the 2024 NBA Draft, he would be another great addition to the young core in Houston.

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