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The Houston Rockets need to make some changes this offseason if they want to avoid a long, painful rebuild.
The Houston Rockets were destined to be a disaster in 2021. James Harden wanted out, and that situation created a huge distraction up until the moment he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets.
The Rockets finished 17-55 and now have top odds to take home the first pick in this year’s NBA Draft Lottery. However, there are no guarantees, and not landing the No. 1 pick could lead to the front office being creative.
Here are a few things the Rockets must do this offseason to ensure the franchise is heading in the right direction.
3. Ensure a top pick
The Rockets can realistically land the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. Getting lucky in the lottery and landing a player like Cade Cunningham would provide some much-needed positivity for the rebuild.
But let’s say the Rockets fall. The team acquired a slew of first-round picks from the Nets and may want to package some of those in a deal to at least move up.
We can even go a step further and say the Rockets should use their top pick and then also package some picks to land another top-10 player. This would help speed up the timeline of the rebuild, as opposed to having a bunch of late-round future picks every single year.
The key point here is the Rockets should not just sit back with all their extra draft capital. That is, if they want to return to contention soon.