The good news? In what many think of as a three-player draft, the Rockets dodged a bullet by getting a top three pick. The bad news? They got the No. 3 overall pick. That's not entirely bad though, because under the NBA's lottery system, the Rockets, despite having a league-worst record at 20-62 actually had a 47.9% chance of dropping all the way to No. 5.
The Rockets avoided that fate picking in the top three means the Rockets likely will get one of Auburn’s Jabari Smith, Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren or Duke’s Paolo Banchero. Although the draft is still five weeks away, most early mocks have Smith and Holmgren as the top two picks, leaving the Rockets to take the 6-foot-10, 250-pound Banchero, who may be the most NBA-ready player in the draft.