Will the Houston Rockets trade their lottery pick for future assets?

The Houston Rockets will learn where their draft selection will stand on Sunday afternoon in the 2024 Draft Lottery. The Rockets will add their fourth straight prospect to the lottery due to the trade that sent James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets in January 2021 .

However, general manager Rafael Stone will keep his options open when determining how to revamp Houston’s roster for the 2024-25 season.

According to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, the Rockets could attempt to trade their pick for future assets.

Brooklyn’s selection has a 50.7 percent chance of landing the ninth overall pick, and the draft selection has a 4.5 percent chance of reaching the No. 1 overall pick. The Rockets’ pick, projected as No. 12, will be converted to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Houston owes the Thunder the arrival of Russell Westbrook as part of a trade in June 2019.

Westbrook played one season with the Rockets, leading to the franchise’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs. The Rockets traded for Westbrook in a deal that also sent Chris Paul and four potential first-round picks.

The 2002 draft lottery marked the last time the Rockets held the top overall selection, used to draft future Hall of Famer Yao Ming. Last year, Houston landed the fourth pick, which was used to draft Amen Thompson.

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