Houston Rockets Could Trade No. 10 Draft Pick

The 2025 NBA Draft is just weeks away, and despite a great regular season and a postseason appearance, the Rockets own a top-10 pick via the Phoenix Suns.

The 2025 draft has legitimate talent, with players like Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper at the top, but fairly deep middle-ground too, with plenty of talented guards, wings, forwards and centers. While you'd always rather a selection at the top, good players will be pushed down, too. Should the Rockets hang onto their pick, they’ll have the opportunity to select a difference-maker to add to their core.

And with some of the holes portrayed in their series with the Warriors — namely 3-point shooting, and a potential long-term frontcourt partner for Alperen Sengun — the team could stand to address some issues.

Per Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Conner, though, Houston may not be looking to keep their draft selection.

"The Rockets have a pretty deep roster as is and minutes could be hard to come by for an incoming freshman like they were for Reed Sheppard last year,” O’Conner wrote. “So league sources expect the Rockets to look into trading this pick,”

While adding another talented youngster to the squad makes sense for the Rockets, so does trading it. As O’Conner touched on, the team barely had enough minutes to go around last season as is, with Rockets’ guard Reed Sheppard playing less than 13 minutes per game, mostly in late-game situations.

“Whether it’s a trade way up, a trade out for a star, or a trade out for a group of future picks similar to what the Spurs received from the Timberwolves when they moved up for Rob Dillingham last year.” O’Conner continued.

A potential star trade has loomed over Houston for some time now, with the roster feeling just far enough away from true contention to warrant one. And while the No. 10 pick wouldn't be a massive asset in trading for a star, the team certainly has more in the cache.

For that exact reason, kicking the can down the road and trading the selection for a future pick could make sense, too.

Regardless, the Rockets continue to have options as the 2025 NBA Draft approaches.