Rockets Add Much Needed Ingredients in Latest Mock Draft

That would be a great pick.

Dec 11, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets general manager Rafael Stone looks on during practice before the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets have a major offseason ahead of them this summer. The team needs to bolster their roster in a major way, as they lag behind the top teams in the Western Conference by a wide margin. 

And Houston has clear roster needs. They lack outside shooting, which gives them a disadvantage on a nightly basis against most teams.

Today's NBA is much different than the league your grandparents and parents grew up watching. It's a math game practically every night.

You can find yourself trailing by double-digits within three of four short possessions. And especially if you don't have a table-setting point guard to help get players in their preferred spots on the floor.

The Rockets have generally lacked proficient point guard play since the departure of James Harden, so much that they turned to the corpse of John Wall to address the need, before ultimately asking Kevin Porter Jr. to change his position entirely.

The Rockets have since tabbed Fred VanVleet to solve their point guard need, and it's been a fairly successful approach, when VanVleet has been healthy. Which couldn't have been said this past season, as he missed the entirety of the season due to a torn ACL.

The Rockets' lack of depth in the point guard room reared its ugly head, as Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard were tasked with the Rockets' point guard duties, as both players were asked to play out of position to fill VanVleet's void.

Neither were ideal replacements. But again, the Rockets needed point guards well before VanVleet's injury. 

This offseason could be a good opportunity to add depth at the position. Houston holds two second-round draft picks in next month's 2026 NBA Draft, with the 39th and 53rd picks. 

And based on the latest mock draft by Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo Sports, the Rockets select Christian Anderson with the 39th draft selection (and ninth pick in the second round), addressing both their lack of playmaking and outside shooting.

O'Connor explained.

"Consider Anderson as insurance for Reed Sheppard, who has certainly flashed upside but struggled in the playoffs. Anderson showed up at Texas Tech as the 101st-ranked recruit and has played his way into the first-round conversation behind dynamic pick-and-roll creation and knockdown perimeter shooting. He does a good job of creating easier shots for his teammates, but at his small stature he hasn’t shown a consistent ability to get to the rim with any regularity. And any small guard will always be a target on defense, so there’s a lot of pressure on his shot translating to the next level. That’s why he’s still weighing whether to return to school for one more year of improving his stock."

Anderson made 41.5 percent of his outside shots on 7.9 attempts, while also averaging a conference leading 7.4 assists, in addition to 18.5 points.