Houston Rockets Mock Drafts & Combine News: Reed Sheppard, Donovan Clingan, Stephon Castle & More
Houston Rockets Mock Drafts & Combine News: Reed Sheppard, Donovan Clingan, Stephon Castle & More
Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) is joined by weekly cohost Rockets Wire Editor Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) to discuss the latest Houston Rockets mock drafts after receiving the 3rd overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and which prospects different draft analysts have the Rockets selecting, Ime Udoka’s comments from the Draft Combine in Chicago, as well as news and notes from prospects Reed Sheppard, Donovan Clingan, Stephon Castle and more.
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48 Comments
Sheppard or Clingan wouldnt be bad. Fred VV aint gonna be here forever so itd be nice to have a solid backup point next to Amen in the future. They're both young and close in age and can grow together as a really solid for the Rockets future.
Clingan wouldn't be bad as well. It'd be nice to have "legitamite"size in a young big that can grab boards, defend, and be a knockdown shooter along side ALP. I wish we could snag both prospects
Sheppard is a solid future role player.
Topic facilitating next to Wemby is more disturbing to think about.
Nikola Topic or Risacher
Risacher if he drops 👍
Reed Sheppard all day!!!!
I like the idea of drafting Matas Buzelis. High upside player that averaged 15ppg on 42% in an awful ignite offense, while being a top shot-blocker in the G. He has all the tools to be the best player in this draft at 6'10, 38in. vertical and 3-level scoring, with complimentary court vision. He's had a weak showcase at 3 this season but shot 40%+ in high-school. We should utilize Udoka while we have him on contract to help develop Buzelis into a star.
Matas or Donovon
Matas Buzelis is gonna be an all star no question.he’s same height with jabari smith jr but better than jabari in all areas except for 3 point shooting & maybe defense. If I were the Rockets org I’ll select him with pick no.3. Buzelis is a better ball handler than Sheppard and he’s a 3 level scorer.Clingan is good but he doesn’t have an all star potential
i would like for rockets to draft Donovan Clingan
Donovan to the Rockets makes a lot of sense. All of the young teams have good rim protectors.
Sheppard = JJ Redick
I think Dalton is ready now and solves our number one issue. THREE POINT SHOOTING. He is big enough that you have to stay glued to him unlike Sheppard who you simply close out on. A second unit with Amen, Cam, Dalton, Tari, and Aquaman would be lethal.
When we look back on this in 10 years Sarr, Salaun, and Dillingham will be the best overall players from this draft imo. Reed, Knecht, Risacher, Clingan, and Ware all provide skillsets that’ll fit immediate needs for the Rockets. I honestly wouldn’t mind if we drafted any of these players. I’m sold on Ime as the coach and the natural growth of talent we have with the core 6. We’re in a great position no matter what, honestly!
Hell no! GTFOH, #STONE is not picking Clingan. Looks stiff AF.
I'm not taking a Mark Price 2.0 as my top 3 pick
Trade Down and draft LeBron James's son which will force LeBron James to leave the Lakers and join the rockets
I love reed but he’s tiny. Smaller than dillingham according to people at combine. Caruso seems to be his ceiling so not worth a 3rd pick. Would rather go for a home run swing like risacher/buzelis/topic or trade back
I don't think this is a weak draft, there are a ton of interesting prospects, just nobody like Wemby. It makes me laugh when the experts say they have no consensus on top player and then turn around and call this a weak draft, let's just be honest, they have no clue. I've been watching a lot of highlights and I would be good with either Reed Shepherd or Matas Buzelis. If you held a gun to my head I would go Matas Buzelis right now. His upside is insane. Topic has a knee injury FYI, so his stock will be dropping. Clingan is a big strong guy in college but he's not going to bully folks in the NBA. He could be a solid role player though. Honestly, I think there are a lot of good choices for the Rockets, the French kid could be awesome as well, reminds me of Batum 2.0. Matas Buzelis reminds me of Manu, a great glue guy for a championship team that also blocks shots. Will his shooting come around though?
We need a big guy
Need that BIG CENTER Or Sheppard
Rosacher is the only option for us 6’10 shooter
Clingan or castle
Sheppard and Castle look like elite role players. Take the bigger one
What’s a lineup with Reed on the team supposed to look like ??
Hate to bring race into it. When’s the last time an undersized white American drafted in the lottery panned out? Has there been a good prospect.
Reed is a Good shooter but so is
Risacher at 6’10.
We can always trade for a veteran shooter if we need to
We need backup C and backup PG. choices are Topic or Clingan.
I like Topic as a draft and stash (despite llull ptsd). Also prevents a scary wemby/topic pnr for years
Clingan is a defensive C/lob threat we could use behind Alpi. Adds more value Ready to play immediately and will be better/cheaper than landale/adams from day 1.
Dont sleep on Rob Dillingham.
Don't need a guard. The France guy has a good shot, I would like
Donovan Clingan, rim protector and "maybe" he can help guard Wemby
Trade down and draft Kel'el Ware.
People here really want to draft jj reddick archetype in Shepard smh
I’m from Connecticut so I would love castle or clingan.Both all defense potential and both winners who will sacrifice and play unselfish.
The Rox have to trade this pick. None of these prospects are better than the core 6 players and what's the point of drafting a player at #3 who most likely wouldn't start.
We can go get a mid-level free agent that can probably play as well as any rookie coming out this year so I don’t think we need to search for fit we need to shoot for upside and Maybe plan a player that will be a star in a few years. I’d rather go for Zacc which looks like a 3D player at worst but at best can be Ben Simmons in his prime with a three-point shot.
Great pod guys. Ben you convinced me we should keep the pick. now that don't mean I might not change my mind in the next ten minutes, that's just how I feel after this pod. this pick has put some options on the table that look pretty good. one area I do trust Stone in is the evaluation of talent, he usually finds talent with high 1st round picks. the trade avenue is kinda wait and see. if we go the trade route I dont want some recycled almost washup retread star who doesn't fit our time line. we can sign a free agent or make smaller moves to round out the team in weak areas. there are a few kids in this draft who may not impact us next year but look good and can become depth pieces for us or trade assets in the future. that's what has me leaning pick for the next ten minutes
Unless nola is willing to do a dillion for zion and thier pick with lettin us keep ours i dontnwna trade it for no one. Ppl are damm passsed out on this draft but its gona come bsck n show all them that reed will be fukking amazing or who ever we get at 3
Trade that pick, i will feel so bad for whoever they draft if they keep it as they will struggle to get minutes and probably will be sent to the gleague.
Rockets have 3 centers under contract, but we need another one? That's a really expensive back up center with the 3rd pick….probably cost 10 million a season. I do not want Clingan at all. He's a great shot blocker and passer, but he is slow, can't shoot with range or free throws, and I've heard he's already having foot issues. Everybody always wants guys off national championship teams, but a lot of the time they don't translate to the NBA game that well.
Clingan makes no sense – udoka likes bigs that can shoot. We have clingan and sengun who really cant shoot makes no sense
If we dont grt buzellis. Itll be a HUGE mistake!
I would rather have Clingan for fit, but off of watching how naturally the game comes to all these prospects, I would pick Risacher or Topic..
REED SHEPPARD…. Point blank period
Buzellis or risacher .. one of them we need
Dear rockets :
Draft day is here.
Spurs call you:
Spurs receive: #3 overall pick
Rockets receive: Keldon Johnson and #8 overall pick
What do y'all say?
Amen ft topic would be speedy in the court
Reed Sheppard should go to Kentucky for 4 years. Then try to go pro. He could make a killing and own the state. If he doesn’t go pro later he can still be extremely successful in Kentucky. However, he will go pro now and in 6 years be out of the NBA.
Would ATL entertain the #3 plus JalenGreen and filler for Trae Young ?
what if alex sar fall to 3 ???