2024 NBA Mock Draft: Houston Rockets Take UConn Star With No. 3 Pick

The Houston Rockets are a wild card with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

Apr 8, 2024; Glendale, AZ, USA; Connecticut Huskies guard Stephon Castle (5) reacts against the Purdue Boilermakers in the national championship game of the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

We are right in the thick of mock draft season, with continual updates coming through with additional analysis and occasionally more intel shaking up different scenarios. The Houston Rockets, in particular, are in a unique situation ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft.

With the No. 3 overall pick, Rockets general manager Rafael Stone has a decision to make. Last offseason, the team added two win-now veterans in free agency alongside their young core to help the team take a 19-win jump. They also added Amen Thompson as a top-five pick. The team is building a bit of a dual timeline with the moves, and a direction is needed.

Should the Rockets trade out of the No. 3 overall pick to bring in more win-now talents -- maybe even Brooklyn Nets' Mikal Bridges? Should they stand pat and draft at No. 3, leaning into youth with young pieces like Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson?

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The Rockets have plenty of youth on the roster, and trading win-now talents and leaning into patience could be the right move, or even just adding youth and letting it develop behind its veteran players could make sense.

CBS Sports recently updated its 2024 NBA Mock Draft, and this has the Rockets drafting a UConn star with its No. 3 overall pick. In this scenario, Houston takes UConn's Stephon Castle at No. 3.

"Castle is a big, versatile guard capable of facilitating the offense or playing off the ball. He also rated as UConn's No. 2 defender behind only 7-4 Donovan Clingan, according to evanmiya.com. His 3-point shot needs a lot of work, but Castle's significant contributions to college basketball's top squad as a freshman were an encouraging sign of things to come," CBS Sports wrote.

Adding a 6-foot-6 guard to the roster with sky-high potential would mean this team is leaning into its youth. As a freshman, he helped UConn to its second-straight National Championship. Winning as a freshman proves that Castle could leap to the next level and potentially help the Rockets play winning basketball right away.

Stone, again, has a big decision to make no matter what this offseason, and has a big opportunity in doing so. It'll be interesting to watch it unfold and see whether or not the team has a distinct direction or not.

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