Houston Rockets: 37 best prospects in the 2021 NBA Draft

Houston Rockets NBA Draft big board 26-30

Rank     Player              Ave Rank    Range

#26   Ayo Dosunmu:         24           15-34

#27   Roko Prkacin:         31.5        18-NR

#28   Day’Ron Sharpe:   31.6        19-52

#29   Greg Brown:           33.1        28-56

#30   Charles Bassey:    35.7        25-NR

Ayo Dosunmu is the 26th ranked prospect and in many ways, he is the final player with a first-round grade. His average ranking of 24 and ranking range between 15 and 34 indicates that he is a first-round talent.

The Rockets don’t have a second-round pick this year so if they select any of the players mentioned either they acquired a second-round pick or they’re reaching on a prospect. Sometimes teams are right when they reach, but if they want any of these next prospects it’d make sense to use either the 23rd or 24th pick to trade back.

With the next group of players, we see a massive drop-off in average ranking and two players who weren’t even ranked on the sourced big boards. Roko Prkacin is the 27th ranked player but his average rank is 31.5 and he wasn’t even ranked on two boards.

Day’Ron Sharpe, the 28th ranked prospect, has an almost identical average ranking as Prkacin at 31.6. He’s viewed as either a late first-round talent or a second-round pick and likely won’t be high up the Rockets big board.

Greg Brown and Charles Bassey are the 29th and 30th ranked prospects and in many respects, they’re very similar prospects. They both look like late first-round picks at best and if they slide into the second round that wouldn’t come as a shock either.

Houston Rockets NBA Draft big board 31-37

Rank   Player                                     Ave Rank         Range

#31   Nah’Shon Hyland:                   35.8               19-66

#32   Joel Ayayi:                                 35.8                29-NR

#33   Rokas Jokubaitis:                   39.2                 25-NR

#34   Jeremiah Robinson-Earl:    39.4                  26-64

#35   Aaron Henry:                          41.7                  29-NR

#36   Marcus Bagley:                     42.7                   27-NR

#37   Max Abmas:                          46.7                   29-NR

Now that we’re into the second round, I’ll be brief. The two players on this list that have the best chance of sneaking into the first-round are Nah’Shon Hyland and Joel Ayayi. They have identical average rankings of 35.8 and in Hyland’s case, his highest ranking of 19 means someone thinks he is solidly a first-round talent.

The Rockets will have three first-round picks in the 2021 NBA draft with two in the 20s and maybe one in the top-five or the 18th pick. Either way, there are plenty of talented players who could drop and the Rockets need to be ready to pounce. There is wisdom in the crowd, hopefully, the Rockets are listening.