Houston Rockets draw interest from ‘handful of teams’ for No. 3 pick

The Houston Rockets struck gold in the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery. They received the No. 3 pick due to the trade that sent James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets in 2021. And now, general manager Rafael Stone has a ton of flexibility to improve the team.

Stone thinks the 2024 NBA Draft is “strong.” However, there is a growing feeling that the Rockets will trade away their top pick. According to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, several teams around the league have launched an investigation for the No. 3 overall pick.

“Interested teams would either like to advance to number 3 or those who would like to advance to the first round, sources said.” – according to Iko.

Houston entered the lottery with the best odds of landing the No. 9 selection (50.7%), which was awarded to the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a team that could trade for the No. 3 pick. The Rockets are one of several teams hoping to enter the trade sweepstakes due to uncertainty surrounding star point guard Donovan Mitchell.

“I think the top of this draft is strong,” Stone said after the draft. “I think last year’s draft was different than we’ve seen in a while, just because there was so much attention focused on one guy (Wembanyama), and he wasn’t the case in the previous two drafts, and I don’t think that will be the case this year.”

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