Dwight Howard and 6 Players Rockets Could Trade for with Stockpiled Draft Picks

The Houston Rockets traded into the first round yet again after sending Chase Budinger to Minnesota for their number 18 pick in Thursday's upcoming draft.

Houston has an endless number of options with three first round picks under their thumb to dole out however they please.

They are the proud owners of the 14th, 16th and 18th picks in the draft, which means they have the opportunity to grab three decent players with some upside, or they could trade them around and see what they can transform their team into.

In order to really break down the possibilities at this point, let's take a look at who could fall to those picks, what they could trade them for and how they might be planning this all out.

Keeping the Picks

The Rockets are set up nicely if they decide to keep their picks for themselves, as they are so close together. That means they can pick and choose who to take based on who picks after them.

For instance, say they want to take a point guard and Kendall Marshall is available at 14. Instead of taking him there, they can easily look at Philly, who is drafting at 15 and realize that there's no way they take a point guard. From there they can grab someone like Arnett Moultrie or Perry Jones at 14, let Philly draft and then take Marshall at 16. This gives them the ultimate ability to reach for a player who would go lower with no concern for taking him too high.

With these three picks, Houston would be wise to grab a power forward like Moultrie, a small forward like Mo Harkless and a point guard like Marshall. Other good options would be Jones, Meyers Leonard (if he's still there), Terrence Jones or even Jared Sullinger if they want to gamble with his back problems.

Houston gives themselves the ultimate level of flexibility with their picks so close together, so it might not be a bad idea to keep them.

Trade Up and Up Some More

The first step of a trade rumor going around is that Houston is going to try to trade their three picks for two higher picks, then flipping those for Dwight Howard, but we'll get to that part later.

Let's take a look at the potential trade ideas first.

According to the SI article referenced earlier, Houston is looking to turn the 14th, 16th and 18th picks, plus Kyle Lowry, into the 5th and 8th picks from Sacramento and Toronto respectively.

While that would give them a need for a point guard, it's assumed here that they would end up re-signing Goran Dragic or looking elsewhere.

The only question now is what they would do with those two high picks.

5th Pick

The fifth pick in the draft is definitely an interesting one, depending on how the first four picks shake out, obviously.

It seems at this point that we've got an Anthony Davis-Thomas Robinson-Bradley Beal-Harrison Barnes top four coming into shape, which means a good number of options for Houston should they land the number five pick.

The best on there seems to be Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who would bring the hard working nature to Houston and give them a good base on either side of the floor.

It seems that he would be the only smart choice there if that is how the top four shakes out, as there is a bit of a drop-off from five to six.

Basically, at this point Houston is going to get whoever is left over from Davis, Robinson, Beal, Barnes and Kidd-Gilchrist, which they would be happy with.

8th Pick

Where the number five pick was more or less set to whomever ends up falling to them, the number eight pick seems to be much more flexible.

An interesting choice at number eight would be Andre Drummond, who is a roll of the dice if ever there was one. Drummond is a risk, but getting someone like Houston Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon to work with him would definitely make that less of a risk.

Elsewhere they could look at Dion Waiters (which could mean trading Kevin Martin down the road), Austin Rivers or Jeremy Lamb (same) or someone like John Henson or Tyler Zeller.

There are plenty of options with that 8th pick, all of which would be good to get them off the ground quickly or give them a guy with tons of potential down the road. 

The Dwight Howard Rental

We're going to play the "if" game here, but if they end up trading for the 5th and 8th pick, there's a good chance a rental of Dwight Howard could be on the horizon, which would be the ultimate roll of the dice.

Basically, they would end up trading those two picks and possibly another piece to Orlando for Dwight Howard without Howard himself signing an extension, a risk they're willing to take.

Trading for Dwight Howard would be risky, no doubt, but it could also end up being great for their team, even if sources have said there's "not a chance" that Howard re-signs in Houston.

Pau Gasol

Guys, there was no way this one wasn't coming, right?

The Houston Rockets have been enamored with Pau Gasol for what seems like a decade, even trading for him before the start of last season before David Stern negated the deal, so why wouldn't they still want him?

Here's what we know for sure; Los Angeles wants a mid-to-late first round draft pick and they're willing to trade for one, Houston has a handful of mid-to-late first round picks and Houston likes Pau Gasol.

Would the Lakers trade Gasol if Houston offered them all three of their draft picks? Maybe. Would Houston make that trade offer? It seems so.

Josh Smith

While the Rockets are most interested in Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard, they obviously have back-up plans should neither of those pan out.

Josh Smith is another guy that Rockets GM Daryl Morey will take a gander at should he get turned down for Pau and Howard, although he would just be the first step in a plan.

As Marc Stein tweeted earlier today, Houston would pursue Smith should those plans fall through, as Smith has been available for a while at this point and Atlanta is looking to make some changes.

Tyreke Evans

As a part of the trade for the 5th pick in the draft, it has been rumored and shot down already that Houston could be interested in Tyreke Evans as well as Sacramento's pick.

While it is a rumor that seems to have faded away already thanks to the speed of the internet, there's always the slightest hint of truth in these rumors, so it's not one to be ignored.

After all, we know that Tyreke Evans has been on the block for Sacramento and the Rockets are looking to make a trade with the Kings, so it's not out of the realm of possibility.

If you are one of those twitterers, you can follow me @JDorsey33.