With a win-now emphasis and a deep young core, as is, numerous reports have made it clear that the Houston Rockets are open to trading their No. 3 overall draft pick in the NBA’s 2024 first round.
The question, however, is if a established player worthy of trading that asset comes available within the next week.
If not, general manager Rafael Stone could simply stand pat at No. 3 and choose the best prospect available — with any concerns related to fit or playing time shelved for another day.
There is, however, at least one other possibility. Jake Fischer, senior NBA reporter for Yahoo! Sports, has more:
The Rockets, sources said, plan to entertain offers for the third pick, which could last all the way until Houston is on the clock Wednesday. The Rockets, sources said, are more intrigued by receiving future draft capital than any player who’s been made available to Houston at this point. Should the Rockets ultimately hold pat at this slot, unmotivated by external offers, Houston has been strongly linked by league personnel to Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard.
New offseason notebook for @YahooSports, on the ripple effects of Chicago and OKC’s Caruso-Giddey swap, draft trade possibilities, and more: https://t.co/xZwGCT1nQO
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) June 21, 2024
It’s not the first time that this potential strategy has been reported, though the previous report (by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle) came out just prior to the May 12 draft-lottery results — when the Rockets jumped from the No. 9 odds slot to the No. 3 pick.
This report from Fischer seemingly indicates that even at a higher draft slot, the strategy remains plausible for the Rockets. Generally speaking, the idea is that by pushing the unused draft assets to a future year, they could be more attractive on the trade market due to the additional optionality for the team receiving the pick(s).
It’s also worth noting that most draft evaluators consider the 2025 and 2026 draft-prospect pools to be far superior to 2024.
In any case, it remains to be seen whether such an offer is actually presented to the Rockets — and whether Stone would actually pull the trigger. But in the final days leading up to the June 26 first round, it seems that Houston wants the league to know that it’s an option.
