Carter Bryant is the perfect prospect to supplement the Rockets’ exciting young core

Even after taking a pretty big step forward in their progression as a team this past season, in which they finished with the second-best record in the Western Conference in the regular season amd made it back to the NBA Playoffs for the first time in five years, the Houston Rockets have some very crucial big-picture questions to answer this offseason. The biggest of which revolves around how the front office envisions this team taking another step forward heading into next season.

Does the front office explore a big offseason trade? Will they continue to take a much slower approach to their rebuild and continue to hang their hat and place their hope on internal development? Is the right move to run it back another year with relatively the same roster? There are so many possibilities available to the Rockets that it's almost impossible to predict what the next few months will look like for this team.

What they do at the 2025 NBA Draft will likely give us the answer to many of those questions. Specifically, how they decide to use the No. 10 overall pick in the draft. If the Rockets elect to try and upgrade their roster via trade, this is almost certainly an asset that's going to be included in any offseason trade. However, if they want to continue down the path of internal development, this is a selection that could also go a long way in helping this team take another strong step forward next season.

The best fit for the Houston Rockets is Carter Bryant

If the Rockets enter the draft to keep the pick, there may not be a better overall fit for the Rockets than Carter Bryant. A much different player than Jabari Smith, Bryant is a tweener forward who could add an element to the Rockets that they don't currently have on their roster.

He's the type of player who could play on the wing on the offensive end of the floor, but still has the athleticism to help protect the paint defensively. He could help erase some of the deficiencies that Alperen Sengun could have when it comes to protecting the rim. I wouldn't say Bryant is a traditional rim protector, but he'd add an element to their defense that could make him a force on that end of the floor with his overall versatility.

Bryant is also proved the capability to be a reliable 3-point shooter during his freshman season at Arizona, averaging 37 percent from deep on nearly three attempts per game. If nothing else, Bryant gives them another 3-and-D presence that they can lean on aside from Dillon Brooks.

What the Rockets have to love most beyond Bryant's natural fit alongside the team's already talented young core is the idea that he's just scratching the surface of his potential. The biggest bet the Rockets would be making with this selection is the high-end ceiling that Bryant possesses.

The most intriguing part of selecting Bryant is that we still don't know what he can be at his peak. There have been some comparisons, but none of them are quite fair. At least not right now. In the NBA Draft, there are good mystery prospects and bad ones. Bryant is one of the good ones. It's one of the biggest reasons why he's one of the biggest risers since the end of the college basketball season.

And if he's still on the board when the Rockets go on the clock with the No. 10 overall pick, he may be the most logical selection for a young team on the rise.