After just missing the playoffs while finishing with a 41-41 record, the Houston Rockets never expected to be picking third in the 2024 NBA Draft. Yet, when they traded James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets way back in 2021, the Rockets acquired the Nets’ first-round pick in 2024, and then a bit of lottery luck led to landing a top pick, three years later.
So now the Rockets are in position to draft a player in the first five selections for the fourth year in a row. But this is a team that’s been acquiring young talent for several years, and now it’s time to go from pretender to contender. Houston may prefer to add more win-now talent than continue to bank on potential via the NBA Draft.
Houston Rockets would love to trade No. 3 for Mikal Bridges
This brings us to the latest Rockets rumor from ESPN’s NBA Draft expert Jonathan Givony, who suggests Houston may prefer to trade the third overall pick for a big name, such as Brooklyn’s Mikal Bridges, ironically delivering the Nets’ pick back to them.
“Most teams expect the Rockets to heavily pursue trade opportunities, either to move down the board (with teams such as the Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies or Chicago Bulls) or to get out altogether if a major building block — such as Mikal Bridges — becomes unexpectedly available.”
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony on Houston Rockets’ interest in Mikal Bridges
This sounds great for Houston. Bridges may not have an All-Star appearance to his name, but he’s come close. He does, however, have the recognition of being named to the 2021-22 All-Defensive team, and that was before we knew what he was capable of as a scorer, where he’s since averaged 19.9 points per game. Bridges is one of the best-combined scorer/defenders in the NBA, and he’d be a strong fit on any team, which is why there’s been so much interest.
The only issue is, there’s been zero indication that Bridges is actually available. Several teams have inquired about trading for the Nets’ star in seasons’ past, even offering multiple first-round picks. Sure, none of those offers ever included a selection as high as No. 3, but this isn’t a particularly strong draft class. While talent can be found, there’s never any guarantee that the player Brooklyn would be targeting could actually be better than Bridges in the long run.
However, the Nets also aren’t quite ready to contend with the Boston Celtics of the Eastern Conference, and having a chance to ‘reset’ by swinging a blockbuster trade with Houston could be a way to jumpstart their retooling process.
Related: Blazers, Grizzlies, and Bulls linked to trading up for top NBA Draft prospect