Houston Rockets Could Benefit From UConn's Donovan Clingan's Rising Stock

One of the Houston Rockets' best draft prospects with the No. 3 overall pick could be Donovan Clingan, a 7-foot-3 center and two-time National Champion from UConn. He's likely going to be considered among the top two picks, owned by the Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards.

With Clingan highly regarded, it was recently reported a pool of teams could look into trading up in the draft to select the former Huskies center.

Clingan spent two seasons playing college basketball, and, as mentioned, won a national title during both campaigns. He's going to be an incredible anchor for some team in the NBA.

For the Rockets, this poses a couple of opportunities. They can either select the 7-footer himself, assuming the Hawks and Wizards lean toward Alex Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher, the consensus top two picks given the teams selecting thus far, or trade to one of the suitors looking to secure the former Huskies center.

Among the teams potentially looking into moving up for the center are the Chicago Bulls, Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz. Each of those teams could potentially be trade partners for the Rockets, who can then trade down in the draft while adding additional value to the team.

Should the Rockets decide to stand pat, other popular selections through mock draft are Clingan's UConn teammate in Stephon Castle and Kentucky star Reed Sheppard, both of which are guards. Selecting Clingan and opting to go big in the draft would cause a ripple effect for Houston.

Right now, the team has a borderline star at center in Alperen Sengun. The problem? Given Sengun's skill set, the offense would have to be built around him. His defense isn't good, so his value is best suited offensively.

Well, the Rockets have guards like Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green, not two players best suited to play around a ball-dominant big man. Drafting Clingan, however, would complement those two. Then, the team could trade Sengun for some incredible value, helping the team adapt to a defensive-minded style of play and giving direction toward building around Green as a guard.

So, either the Rockets can find supreme value by trading for teams looking to select Clingan before, say, the Portland Trail Blazers would select him with pick No. 7, or they can draft him, helping their direction as a franchise and molding their team identity.

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