3 Lottery talents Rockets should monitor in best-case scenario

The 2024 NBA Draft could be a pivotal one for the Houston Rockets, as they could have multiple lottery picks for the first time since 1983. Granted, the Rockets don't know where their own pick will land, obviously, and they only get their pick if it falls in the top-four.

This is due to the Russell Westbrook trade in 2019, which saw the Rockets shell out first-round picks in 2024 and 2026, in addition to pick swaps in 2021 and 2025. The first-round picks in 2024 and 2026 are both top-four protected.

The swaps also came with protections as the 2021 pick swap was also protected 1-4, paving the way for the Rockets to draft Jalen Green in the 2021 NBA Draft. The 2025 pick swap is protected 1-20 as well.

What's not as unclear is the Rockets' other pick, which comes by way of the Brooklyn Nets, who gave away three unprotected first-round draft picks in 2022, 2024, and 2026, in addition to pick swaps in 2021, 2023, 2025, and 2027, in the James Harden trade of 2021.

This year's Nets pick will likely be the best pick the Rockets inherited in the deal, as the Nets are 24-37, which is the eighth-worst record in the league. Although it's unknown where exactly those picks will land, several players should be on the Rockets' radar.

Let's take a look at who they should set their sights on from this draft class.