Tarris Reed Jr. could fill a major hole in Houston's young rotation

With the season coming to a close very soon, all the Houston Rockets can do is look towards what comes next, which is the NBA Draft. For Houston, while they don’t have a first-round pick, they can still find someone who can contribute to the growth of this young unit. A player like Tarris Reed Jr. could be a huge addition as a backup for Alperen Sengun. The 2025-2026 season left a lot of unanswered questions, like who is going to step up and become the star this team needs?

Reed Jr. is worth a look at No. 53

The playoffs showed that Sengun’s defense was quite limited, which can be disappointing for a team that held a top-ten defensive rating throughout the regular season. A player like Reed Jr. can slip right into a role where he’s not needed right away, but good for minutes if Sengun is struggling. Reed Jr., amongst multiple mock drafts and media outlets, can be found ranked between late second round and undrafted, with some even noting him as a late first round prospect. Overall, for a team that is shaped by defense, it cannot hurt to continue to follow suit.

Reed Jr. spent his first two seasons at Michigan and his other two with UConn, showing improvement at key points such as scoring, rebounds, and blocking every year. This past March Madness, he was a key piece in UConn’s run to the championship game (which they ultimately lost to Michigan, ironically enough). One of his notable games of the tournament was when UConn beat #15-seeded Furman, in which Reed Jr. dropped 31 points & 27 rebounds. Reed Jr. was also named First-team All-Big East for his play for the 2025-2026 season.

Houston’s biggest flaw just so happens to also be Reed’s

Through all the positives, it cannot go without note that Reed Jr. is not someone who finds himself shooting the deep ball, which has been a major negative amongst the Rockets' core. At the end of the day, I wouldn’t say this would steer a team like the Rockets away, since not much change was put into the system in place. A player like Reed Jr. could fine-tune his game in Houston, especially in a system where he doesn’t need a major load of minutes. Time will tell of his future, but if he is on the board still at #53, there’s always a chance.

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