NBA Draft 2021: See The Best Options For Houston

HOUSTON — With the 2021 NBA Draft set for Thursday night, the Houston Rockets have an opportunity to grab their next superstar following the James Harden trade and better their chances for a future championship.

Barring a trade, the Rockets will have the second pick in Thursday night’s draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The team is also slated to pick at No. 23 and No. 24, which were acquired in trades.

The Rockets’ biggest need heading into the draft is a blue-chip building block, according to an NBA Draft preview and analysis from Bleacher Report. Houston has plenty of solid pieces to build around, but the Rockets are missing what James Harden provided for nearly a decade — a top 20 player to be the centerpiece.

In its latest mock draft, Sports Illustrated projected the Rockets to draft Jalen Green, a shooting guard who declined to attend college and played with G League Ignite, with the No. 2 pick. Green and the Rockets have reportedly formed a mutual comfort level during the draft process. The 19-year-old has upside as a scorer and reportedly built up a friendship with Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. when they were in the G League bubble.

The Detroit Pistons have the No. 1 pick in the draft after winning the draft lottery, which is held yearly among the teams that did not qualify for the previous season’s playoffs. The Pistons are widely expected to take Cade Cunningham, a guard from Oklahoma State University, with the pick.

Evan Mobley, a forward/center from the University of Southern California, is slated to go No. 3 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in their mock draft.

In all, NBA.com lists 86 prospects who could be taken with one of the 60 picks in the first and second rounds of the draft. Both rounds are set to be completed Thursday night.

ABC and ESPN will air the first round of the draft beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday. The second round can be watched on ESPN.