Final Houston Rockets 2024 NBA Draft lottery big board

4. Nikola Topic, G/F, KK Crvena Zvezda

Topic is an interesting prospect. He's a 6'6" point guard with a tight handle and a range of crafty moves around the basket.

Like many prospects in this draft, he's not an obvious fit with the Rockets. Questions persist about his jumper. Does he remind you of someone on the Rockets' roster?

Topic and Thompson wouldn't make any sense together. With that said, Topic is further along as a shooter than Thompson. If the Rockets want to take a pure upside swing, he could be their guy.

3. Zaccharie Risacher, F, JL Bourg-en-Bresse

Consensus has Risacher as the second-best prospect in this class. He certainly has that type of upside. Risacher could be a prototypical 3-and-D wing in the NBA.

Only, the first half of that equation may not be there for Risacher. He shot 34.9% from deep this year. If you isolated stretches of his season, you could make his shooting look even worse.

We know - in a sense, we're reducing these prospects to their three-point percentage. That's because the Rockets badly need shooting. Without any prospects with undeniable superstar potential in this class, the Rockets should treat shooting as a key swing skill when assessing these players.

2. Reed Sheppard, G, Kentucky

Did someone say shooting?

Sheppard shot 52.1% from deep for the Wildcats this year. If you've never heard of basketball - that's good. Actually, it's patently absurd.

Sheppard isn't one-dimensional, either. He's a crafty ball-handler who may be able to score via dribble penetration in the NBA. If the Rockets are able to land him in the draft, it could benefit their entire roster.

1. Alexandre Sarr, F/C, Perth

This draft may not have a clear-cut superstar. Let's not overthink this. Sarr is the number one prospect on most big boards for a reason.

He looks like an imposing rim protector who can guard multiple positions. These types of players are increasingly fashionable around the league. The Spurs have Victor Wembanyama, and the Thunder have Chet Holmgren.

The Rockets can zig where those teams are zagging. Still, given the value of having a big man who can defend the interior and also survive switches, they'd probably be better off just zigging.

If they have some tremendous lottery luck, they should take advantage of it.