The Houston Rockets never completely hit the lottery and secured the No. 1 pick in the last four years of their post-James Harden rebuild, but it's hard to quibble with the luck of the ping-pong balls for general manager Rafael Stone in recent years.
Houston secured three cornerstones of its current rebuild with top-five picks in each of the last three drafts (Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson). This trio is supplemented—and perhaps surpassed—by Alperen u015eengün, Tari Eason and Cam Whitmore, the three non-lottery first-rounders since 2021.