As things stand today, the Houston Rockets will pick at No. 3 overall in the June 26 first round of the 2024 NBA draft.
It wasn’t supposed to be that way. Houston’s pick from Brooklyn (acquired in the January 2021 blockbuster trade that sent disgruntled star James Harden to the Nets) entered the 2024 NBA draft lottery in the No. 9 odds slot and only a 20% chance of moving higher.
But the Rockets defied the odds in May and obtained one of the NBA’s four lottery selections for a fourth consecutive year.
One person who appreciates that luck is Tilman Fertitta. In a newly published interview with Haute Living, Houston’s owner commented on the lottery results and the recently completed 2023-24 season.
We had the most plus wins [relative to the previous season] of any team in the NBA last year, we have the best six young players as a group in the NBA, and we’ll get Steven Adams and Tari Eason back this year from injuries. We’re in the tough West, but we feel really good and positive about this coming year.
We just got the number three pick of the draft, too; we should have ended up at nine, but we got lucky and [moved up] to three.
Haute Living’s complete profile on Fertitta can be read here.
As for the Rockets, prospects potentially available at that No. 3 pick could include Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard, Connecticut center Donovan Clingan, and Connecticut guard Stephon Castle.
