With the 10th pick in the NBA Draft the Houston Rockets Select...

I’m on the “trade out of the 2025 draft, and into the 2026” train. But who do folks think is most likely to be a star after Flag and Harper in this draft?

 

Could be this years Franz Wagner....or Josh Giddey. Inability to get separation without a screen isnt great. Defense is suspect but his offensive creation is fantastic. A good hedge on Reed (or Cam) not panning out.

 

Well wait, what about Jabari, Eason, Thompson and Whitmore?

I think after the massive success of the double big lineup I think we're going to see a lot of Sengun sliding to the 4 spot with either Adams starting as well or another big which moves Jabari to the 3.

 

Carter Bryant is this years Shaedon Sharpe.

 

Looks like Carter Bryant could potentially play the 2 guard which if he was as good as advertised would make a super big lineup.

PG - Amen Thompson (6-7) 7' wingspan
SG - Carter Bryant (6-8) 7' wingspan
SF - Jabari Smith Jr. (6-10) 7'1" wingspan
PF - Alperen Sengun (6-11) 7' wingspan
..C - Steven Adams (6-11) 7'5" wingspan

 

We'd have to hold teams below 80 every night with that lineup

 

Trade out, trade up, or trade back.

 

2 weeks out from the draft, have we brought any of the lottery prospects in for workouts? or is stone just trading out this year

 

I think either of the Duke players being available is ideal. Maluach's size or Knueppel's shooting are probably both best player available and a top team need. In fact, I'd trade Cam+10 for either one.

Outside of those two...

Not a big believer in Jakucionas. Fears would just be another athlete who struggles to shoot efficiently.

Tre Johnson is probably gone. I'm a believer in Jase Richardson's game, however, I would consider that pick an absolute damnation of Reed Sheppard.

Collin Murray-Boyles would be a Udoka pick. He'd make Tate obsolete on draft night, and Tari obsolete by mid-season because he can defend just as well but actually drive and finish buckets. That would be funny though, desperate for offense we take a defender?

Noa Essengue is intriguing to me as well. Physically superior, and you could give him a year at home draft/stash since it's unlikely he'd play minutes next season.

Trade down scenario? Sorber, Clifford or Yang are my picks.

 

Probably would

 

You're a very knowledgeable poster,but Sharpe has a better handle than Bryant imo.

 

Trade back for whom?

 

Trade back for guys like Fleming or Walter Clayton Jr. just depends on the compensation. I really want a 2026 pick.

 

Well, I was thinking more along the lines of the prospect that doesn't have much playing time due to injury but has a lot of hype around his potential.

 

For Ryan Kalkbrenner in the late teens/early 20's.

 

How could any of you slow Muppets know, or think, what the Rox could/would do? Or why? Experts you are?

Personally, I'd go for, in no order:

Maluach/Sobor: need a defensive C who can play the pick/roll and rebound on both sides

Carter Bryant/Murrey-Boyles : D&3 can play quickly, somebody can replace someone else before they need to get really paid (not naming names but you know who you are)

Jackasuinis (funny when I just googled that to find the proper spelling, it came up with "mtv's jackass")

 

Vecenie mock

1. Dallas Mavericks: Cooper Flagg | 6-8 forward | 18 years old | Duke
2. San Antonio Spurs: Dylan Harper | 6-5 guard | 19 years old | Rutgers
3. PROJECTED TRADE: Charlotte Hornets: VJ Edgecombe | 6-4 guard | 19 years old | Baylor *(Hornets trade No. 4 and No. 32 to Philadelphia 76ers for No. 3 and Andre Drummond)
4. PROJECTED TRADE: WASHINGTON WIZARDS: Ace Bailey | 6-8 wing/forward | 18 years old | Rutgers *(Wizards trade No. 6 and No. 18 to Sixers for No. 4 and Eric Gordon)
5. Utah Jazz: Tre Johnson | 6-5 wing | 19 years old | Texas
6. PROJECTED TRADE: Philadelphia 76ers: Kon Knueppel | 6-5 guard | 19 years old | Duke *(The Sixers trade No. 3 and Andre Drummond to the Hornets for No. 4 and No. 33; the Sixers then trade No. 4 and Eric Gordon to the Wizards for No. 6 and No. 18)
7. New Orleans Pelicans: Jeremiah Fears | 6-3 guard | 18 years old | Oklahoma
8. Brooklyn Nets: Kasparas Jakučionis | 6-5 guard | 19 years old | Illinois
9. Toronto Raptors: Khaman Maluach | 7-1 big | 19 years old | Duke
10. Houston Rockets (via PHX): Collin Murray-Boyles | 6-7 wing/forward | 20 years old | South Carolina

The Rockets are loaded across each position. They have a team option on veteran point guard Fred VanVleet and drafted their point guard of the future in Reed Sheppard at No. 3 last year; the organization is still extremely high on Sheppard despite his lack of playing time this year. They have their center of the future in Alperen Şengün. I think they will just take the best player available, and at this spot, that’s Murray-Boyles. He’s a tremendous defender and would fit in perfectly with how Ime Udoka wants to play. He also passes well and has serious toughness to play with many of their players. He processes the game at an elite level and is the kind of prospect the Rockets have valued in the past.

Other teams across the league are under the impression that this pick could be moved in the right circumstances, especially in a deal for a star in which Houston consolidates talent.

11. Portland Trail Blazers: Carter Bryant | 6-7 wing | 19 years old | Arizona
12. Chicago Bulls: Derik Queen | 6-9 big | 20 years old |Maryland
13. Atlanta Hawks (via SAC): Joan Beringer | 6-10 big | 19 years old | Cedevita
14. San Antonio Spurs (via ATL): Cedric Coward | 6-5 wing | 21 years old | Washington State
15. Oklahoma City Thunder (via MIA): Thomas Sorber | 6-9 big | 19 years old | Georgetown
16. Orlando Magic: Egor Demin | 6-8 guard | 19 years old | BYU
17. Minnesota Timberwolves (via DET): Noa Essengue | 6-9 forward | 18 years old | Ratiopharm Ulm
18. PROJECTED TRADE: Philadelphia 76ers: Danny Wolf | 6-11 big | 21 years old | Michigan *(Wizards trade No. 6 and No. 18 to Sixers for No. 4)
19. Brooklyn Nets (via MIL): Liam McNeeley | 6-7 wing | 19 years old | Connecticut
20. Miami Heat (via GSW): Jase Richardson | 6-1 guard | 19 years old | Michigan State
21. Utah Jazz (via MIN): Will Riley | 6-7 wing | 19 years old | Illinois
22. Atlanta Hawks (via LAL): Nique Clifford | 6-5 guard | 23 years old | Colorado State
23. Indiana Pacers: Ryan Kalkbrenner | 7-1 big | 23 years old | Creighton
24. Oklahoma City Thunder (via LAC): Hugo González | 6-6 wing/forward | 19 years old | Real Madrid
25. Orlando Magic (via DEN): Walter Clayton Jr. | 6-2 guard | 22 years old | Florida
26. Brooklyn Nets (via NYK): Nolan Traoré | 6-3 guard | 19 years old | Saint-Quentin
27. Brooklyn Nets (via HOU): Asa Newell | 6-9 forward/big | 19 years old | Georgia
28. Boston Celtics: Maxime Raynaud | 7-0 center | 22 years old | Stanford
29. Phoenix Suns (via CLE): Rasheer Fleming | 6-8 forward | 20 years old | Saint Joseph’s
30. LA Clippers (via OKC): Drake Powell | 6-5 wing | 19 years old | North Carolina

31. Minnesota Timberwolves (via UTA): Noah Penda | 6-7 forward | 20 years old | Le Mans
32. Boston Celtics (via Washington): Kam Jones | 6-3 wing | 22 years old | Marquette
33. PROJECTED TRADE: Philadelphia 76ers (via CHA): Adou Thiero | 6-6 wing | 21 years old | Arkansas
34. Charlotte Hornets (via NOP): Ben Saraf | 6-5 guard | 19 years old | Ratiopharm Ulm
35. Philadelphia 76ers: Yanic Konan Niederhauser | 6-11 big | 22 years old | Penn State
36. Brooklyn Nets: Tyrese Proctor | 6-4 guard | 21 years old | Duke
37. Detroit Pistons (via Toronto): John Tonje | 6-5 wing | 23 years old | Wisconsin
38. San Antonio Spurs: Alex Toohey | 6-7 wing/forward | 21 years old | Sydney Kings
39. Toronto Raptors (via Portland): Rocco Zikarsky | 7-3 big | 19 years old | Brisbane Bullets
40. Washington Wizards (via Phoenix): Sion James | 6-4 guard | 23 years old | Duke
41. Golden State Warriors (via Miami): Johni Broome | 6-9 big | 22 years old| Auburn
42. Sacramento Kings (via Chicago): Bogoljub Markovic | 6-10 forward | 19 years old | Mega
43. Utah Jazz (via Dallas): Alijah Martin | 6-1 guard | 23 years old | Florida
44. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Atlanta): Hansen Yang | 7-1 center | 20 years old | Qingdao
45. Chicago Bulls (via Sacramento): Micah Peavy | 6-6 wing | 23 years old | Georgetown
46. Orlando Magic: Max Shulga | 6-4 guard | 23 years old | VCU
47. Milwaukee Bucks (via Detroit): Chaz Lanier | 6-4 wing | 24 years old | Tennessee
48. Memphis Grizzlies (via Golden State): Vladislav Goldin | 7-0 center | 22 years old | Michigan
49. Cleveland Cavaliers (via Milwaukee): Koby Brea | 6-6 wing | 22 years old | Kentucky
50. New York Knicks (via Memphis): Jamir Watkins | 6-5 wing | 23 years old | Florida State
51. LA Clippers (via Minnesota): Kobe Sanders | 6-7 wing | 23 years old | Nevada
52. Phoenix Suns (via Denver): Chucky Hepburn | 6-0 guard | 22 years old | Louisville
53. Utah Jazz (via LA Clippers): Lachlan Olbrich | 6-9 big | 21 years old | Illawarra Hawks
54. Indiana Pacers: Brooks Barnhizer | 6-5 wing | 23 years old | Northwestern
55. Los Angeles Lakers: Hunter Sallis | 6-4 guard | 22 years old | Wake Forest
56. Memphis Grizzlies (via Houston): RJ Luis | 6-6 wing | 22 years old | St. John’s
57. Orlando Magic (via Boston): Ryan Nembhard | 5-11 guard | 22 years old | Gonzaga
58. Cleveland Cavaliers: Dink Pate | 6-6 guard | 19 years old | Mexico City Capitanes
59. Houston Rockets (via Oklahoma City): Amari Williams | 6-10 big | 23 years old | Kentucky

 

Hinges on how they view VJ....

 

While I like most of the core 7 and think they are "good players", some very good but I don't think we have an MVP candidate among them or even one that's remotely in the conversation.

If you don't have one of those guys, you aren't winning it all. Until we find that guy, this team is first or second round fodder for the real contenders.

So no, I don't believe we just need solid contributors. We need to be taking chances on talent that has reasonable a chance to become that MVP player.

There's a few guys in this draft who have that kind of potential, even later in the lottery and even if they don't turn to be superstars, they have high floors as contributing players ....

What we don't need is more players at the 3-4 spots who might be high end role players that won't get on the court with that being the strongest position group on the team and Ime being Ime.

Harper
VJ
Tre Johnson
Jakucionis
Demin
Coward
Clayton Jr

Get me one of those dudes.

VJ & Coward probably won't end up on the ball the majority of the time, but they are still star material two way players

 

I think Stone wants to keep FVV and Adams. From what national media is saying, I don't think the Rockets can stay below the first apron with signing both of those guys and keeping the No. 10 pick. It is going to take a high upside guy still being there for the Rockets to keep the pick.

I am trying hard not to get attached to potential guys that might go No. 10.