Houston Rockets Do the Unthinkable in Latest Mock Draft

The Houston Rockets find themselves in a great situation, heading into the 2024 offseason. They were predicted to win 31 or 32 games, but won 41, despite dealing with a myriad of injuries to Tari Eason, Alperen Sengun, Fred VanVleet, and Amen Thompson.

In spite of them defying odds and outperforming expectations, they find themselves armed with the third overall pick in this year's draft. And they also had the benefit of giving Cam Whitmore, a young prospect, much-needed playing time as a rookie, meaning he'll enter his second season with a level of familiarity of what the big league entails.

The Rockets don't necessarily need another young prospect, hence the trade rumors regarding the pick. If the Rockets do make an actual selection, they could go a number of different directions.

The latest mock draft by Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer has them doing the unthinkable and taking Nikola Topic, who they haven't been linked to at any point thus far.

"There’d be no pressure for Topic with Fred VanVleet already under contract. He could learn from him while working to improve his jumper and adjusting to NBA physicality. With the Rockets ascending, however, I’d also expect the front office to be active in trade talks that could move them out of the draft entirely in exchange for a proven star."

O'Connor has Alex Sarr and Donovan Clingan being the top two picks in the draft. In other words, the Rockets would be drafting Topic with Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard, Ron Holland, Zaccharie Risacher, Cody Williams, and Stephon Castle all on the board.

Which is hard to envision.

Remember, Fred VanVleet is still technically under contract for two more years and the franchise just used a top-four pick on Amen Thompson, who is also a natural point guard, although Rockets coach Ime Udoka used him as more a wing in year one.

This is the first time that we've seen the Rockets linked to Topic, as most mocks have had them selecting Clingan or Sheppard.

Perhaps O'Connor's mock will be the start of a new trend, however.

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