Houston Rockets land UConn star with No. 3 pick

We’re in the thick of a mock draft season, with continued updates with additional analysis and sometimes more information shaking up different scenarios. The Houston Rockets, in particular, find themselves in a unique situation heading into the 2024 NBA Draft.

With the No. 3 overall pick, Rockets general manager Rafael Stone has a decision to make. Last offseason, the team added two winning veterans in free agency alongside their young core to help the team make a 19-win jump. They also added Amen Thompson as a top-five pick. The team builds a dual timeline with the movements, and direction is needed.

Should the Rockets trade their third overall pick to land more winning talent – ​​maybe even Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets? Should they stay put and draft at No. 3, relying on youth with young pieces like Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson?

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The Rockets have a lot of youth on the roster, and trading win-now talent and being patient could be the right move, or even just adding some youth and letting them develop behind his veteran players could make sense.

CBS Sports recently updated its 2024 NBA Mock Draft, which has the Rockets drafting a UConn star with its No. 3 overall pick. In this scenario, Houston takes UConn’s Stephon Castle at No. 3.

“Castle is a big, versatile guard capable of facilitating offense or playing off the ball. He is also ranked as UConn’s second-ranked defender behind only 7-4 Donovan Clingan, according to evanmiya.com. His 3-point shot needs a lot of work, but Castle’s significant contributions to the best team in college basketball as a freshman were an encouraging sign of things to come,” CBS Sports wrote.

Adding a 6-foot-6 guard to the roster with sky-high potential would mean this team is leaning on its youth. As a freshman, he helped UConn win its second consecutive national championship. Winning as a freshman proves that Castle could move to the next level and potentially help the Rockets play winning basketball right away.

Stone, once again, has a big decision to make no matter what this offseason, and has a big opportunity to do so. It will be interesting to see this play out and see if the team has a distinct direction or not.

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