The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery is just a few days away, and the Houston Rockets — now freshly eliminated from the NBA postseason — are again hoping for good luck.
At last year’s lottery, the team jumped six spots from the ninth-best odds to the No. 3 pick, nabbing Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard with its newfound luck. The team could have that exact scenario play out again this year, owning the ninth-best odds via the Phoenix Suns unprotected first round pick.
In a recent mock draft posted to YouTube, that exact scenario played out, though with a trade twist. You can watch the video below, or read on for more analysis:
In the ’25 simulation, Houston jumped up to No. 3 again, pushing the likes of Utah, Washington, New Orleans, Brooklyn and San Antonio down. While the team could stand to add the third-ranked prospect on their board, trading back and adding win-now talent, while also moving down for still-elite prospects is always an option.
With teams like the Wizards, Nets and Jazz hungry to land and feed top prospects, they could be willing to pay a hefty price, even if just to move up a few spots. In this scenario, the Rockets traded down three spots to let the Wizards move up for VJ Edgecombe — a shaky fit for Houston, at best — and nabbed a potential win-now rotational player in either Malcolm Brogdon or Khris Middleton.
Subsequently, the team was able to add Duke center Khaman Malauch after adding the physical value.
In the postseason, some of the Rockets best minutes were played with both first-time All-Star Alperen Sengun, as well as Steven Adams in a double-big lineup. In drafting the 7-foot-2 Maluach, the Rockets would hope to pair the two in the front court for the foreseeable future, with Malauch protecting the rim, diving off of Sengun and potentially even being able to stretch the floor.
Across 39 games in helping the Blue Devils to the Final Four, Maluach averaged 8.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting a blistering 71% overall in just over 20 minutes per contest.
Two-way 7-footers have become a rarity in the NBA, and Houston might not get another chance to draft one should they see good luck on lottery night.
The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery will take place at 6 p.m. CT on Monday, May 12.
