Houston Rockets get lucky at No. 3

The 2024 NBA draft class has been called weak. We’ve been hearing it for months.

Better yet, we’ve heard it for years. This class does not have a prospect on the level of Victor Wembanyama or Scoot Henderson.

But while there may not be a clear, clear outlook for what the teams have been competing for, those claims are a bit of a stretch.

They always are.

If a team knows how to explore, evaluate and value talent, they will always be left with a high-level collaborator. While the focus is always on acquiring superstars, role players are often the key to winning a championship.

It’s still a huge win to walk away with a player who has a skill set that meets a team’s needs. For this reason, the Rockets can go in different directions with the third pick in the draft, which has everyone scrambling to determine exactly what they will do.

This assumes that they actually use the pick, rather than trading it to bolster their squad with a proven player in the league. Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle’s Rockets beat writer, compiled a mock draft and predicted the Rockets would select France’s Zaccharie Risacher.

“The Rockets have consistently looked for the best player available, but what if it’s hard to determine who is the best? Do they lean toward need and look for Reed Sheppard’s shot? Maybe they see Nikola Topić as a long-term point guard ? Risacher has “The touch and shooting range deserve such an early selection, with defensive tools to develop. He also has some positional versatility, but plays predominantly on the wing, where the Rockets are especially deep.”

Many have predicted that the Atlanta Hawks will grab Risacher with the overly overall pick, which would obviously end any hope or dream for the Frenchman of falling to Houston. The 6-foot-8 wing has been compared to the Denver Nuggets’ Michael Porter Jr., as he is also a takedown shooter, 35.2 percent from deep, and has the ability to be a connective piece on the offense.

Risacher is also a highly switchable defender, which is made easier by his long arms and 6-foot-11 wingspan. Risacher’s skills are a perfect fit for Rockets coach Ime Udoka, but they may not be so lucky if he’s not on the board when they have time.

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