Four Lottery Prospects Who Could Make Immediate Impact with Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets are in the NBA Lottery. Just barely.

The Rockets have the best record of all teams that missed the playoffs. That gives Houston a 0.5 percent chance of getting the No. 1 pick and a 1.8 percent chance of landing a top-three draft choice.

Odds are Houston will pick 14th.

Houston has a roster full of talented players, but there are some areas the team could upgrade.

A lot of the big names will be off the board by the time Houston makes its pick, but here are four players who could step in and immediately make a splash in a Rockets uniform.

Terrence Jones, SF, Kentucky

Of all the talent leaving Kentucky this summer, Terrence Jones has the most NBA-ready body of the bunch.

Jones is 6’8” and a sculpted 244 pounds. That’s one inch and one pound shorter than current forward Luis Scola with a ton more athleticism.

He’s got size.

Jones crashes the boards harder than many players of his skill level. He is also an aggressive slasher who can get to the rim and finish with authority.

His jump shot is OK, but not great. He makes up for that with his ability to get past defenders and to the rack.

He handles the ball exceptionally well with his left hand, although he could use some improvement going right.

With his physicality and skill set, Jones would make a tremendous complementary piece for the Rockets’ dynamic backcourt of Kevin Martin and Kyle Lowry.

Meyers Leonard, C, Illinois

Center is Houston’s weakest position, with Samuel Dalembert better suited as a backup and Marcus Camby preparing for the rocking chair.

Meyers Leonard can come in and produce the kind of offense at the center position the Rockets have been missing since Yao Ming retired.

Leonard’s explosiveness brings an exciting dimension to the offense and he is a good passer for a big man.

He has good height—Leonard is listed 7’0”—but will need to add some muscle to his 245-pound frame.

Defensively, he won’t be the most imposing physical presence on the floor his rookie year. Despite that, he will still affect games as a shot blocker.

If Camby sticks around for another season, Leonard will learn a lot on the defensive end of the floor as a rookie while he immediately provides plenty of production offensively.

Austin Rivers, SG, Duke

Austin Rivers could be the instant-offense spark off the bench every team wants to have.

Rivers can shoot lights out when he’s on. Putting him on the floor with the Rockets’ second unit would give the team an immediate scoring threat.

He has the ability to create his own shot and he is more than willing to hoist them up in huge quantities. That might disrupt the flow on many teams if he were cast into the starting lineup as a rookie. But with Kevin Martin and Kyle Lowry in the backcourt ahead of him, a starting job is not in the immediate future.

That will allow Rivers to blossom as he'd be Houston’s go-to scorer when he’s on the floor. Don’t be surprised if he averages double-digit scoring as the Rockets’ sixth man.

However, with his Steph Curry-like skill set, keeping Rivers out of the starting lineup for long could be tough for coach Kevin McHale.

Tony Wroten, PG/SG, Washington

Tony Wroten may be seen as a stretch to be picked in the lottery. However, the 6’5” combo guard out of the University of Washington possesses an intriguing mix of talents.

With his length and ability to attack the basket, he could remind some fans of fellow Seattle native Jamal Crawford.

The only difference is Crawford is a better perimeter shooter.

In his freshman year at UW, Wroten did the bulk of his damage attacking the basket. His three-point percentage was an atrocious .161, but he shot just under .500 from two-point range in averaging nearly 17 points per game.

At this point, his game revolves around getting to the basket.

As Washington’s point guard, Wroten averaged fewer than 4 assists per game. Part of that stems from needing to shoulder the Huskies’ scoring burden.

Wroten is a good passer. He is also an above average rebounder for his position.

Wroten, like Austin Rivers, would thrive on the Rockets' second unit. He is another player who can create his own shot off the dribble. Whereas Rivers is a better knockdown shooter, Wroten can create shots for other players by getting to the rim and drawing help defenders. That will lead to easy buckets for Houston’s big men.