The Brooklyn Nets (23-36) endured another difficult month in February 2024, with eight losses in their final 11 games.
Now, as the 2023-24 season winds down in March and April, the biggest beneficiaries of the Nets’ recent downfall are arguably the Houston Rockets, who own Brooklyn’s 2024 first-round draft pick as part of the blockbuster James Harden trade in January 2021.
Though the Rockets (25-34) are likely to lose their own first-round draft pick to Oklahoma City as part of the 2019 Chris Paul-Russell Westbrook trade, it’s worth noting that unlike the Harden-Brooklyn deal, the conveyance of Houston’s pick is top-four protected.
So, if the Rockets miss the 2023-24 Western Conference playoffs, they will actually have multiple chances — both with their own pick, and the one from Brooklyn, which they will receive no matter what — at securing a top-four pick in the first round 2024 NBA draft.
And if Houston loses its pick to the Thunder due to not winning the lottery, it’s becoming increasingly likely the pick they receive from Brooklyn will be higher in the first-round order, anyway.
With that in mind, here’s a look at who draft experts have going to Houston (with the Brooklyn pick) in the latest wave of mock drafts. Keep in mind that the projected pick slot varies based on the exact date of each mock’s publication, since the standings change daily.