The Houston Rockets are scheduled to have the 10th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Let’s take a look at the Rockets best NBA Draft picks in franchise history. It’s not necessarily the 10 best players ranked in order as where they were selected was taken into consideration. Only time with the team is credited. We shall see if young players like Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, and Reed Sheppard can play their way onto the list in the near future. Honorable mentions that were heavily considered include Stu Lantz, Mike Newlin, John Lucas, Robert Reid, Rodney McCray, Jim Petersen, Sam Cassell, Aaron Brooks, and Clint Capela.
10 Best NBA Draft Picks In Houston Rockets History
10. Amen Thompson (4th overall, 2023)
Perhaps it’s too early to put Amen Thompson on here after just two seasons and other viable candidates being left off. Some would argue that the 22-year-old is already the team’s best player as Houston earned the second seed in the Western Conference in this year’s playoffs. Thompson was named to the All-Defensive First Team this season and was fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
9. Allen Leavell (104th overall, 1979)
The current NBA draft goes nowhere close to 104 picks, which is where Allen Leavell was selected. His 10-year career was spent entirely with the Rockets. He had five seasons averaging double-digits in scoring and is fifth in franchise history with his 700 regular season appearances.
8. Robert Horry (11th overall, 1992)
While he spent just four years with Houston, Robert Horry was a starting forward on their championship teams in 1994 and 1995. Horry became a starter from the get-go and fell just 0.1 points shy in 1993-94 of averaging double figures in scoring all four seasons. He shot 39.2% from three-point territory in the two postseason runs that led to titles.
7. Cuttino Mobley (41st overall, 1998)
Spending his first six seasons with Houston, Cuttino Mobley averaged more than 15 points in each of his last five years for them. In his second year, he was the runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year. Mobley is sixth in team history with 672 made three-pointers.
6. Rudy Tomjanovich (2nd overall, 1970)
A Hall of Famer as a coach, Rudy Tomajnovich also had an excellent NBA playing career, all with the Rockets. He was named to five All-Star teams and twice averaged a double-double for the season. The 6-foot-8 forward shot just above 50% from the field for his career.
5. Ralph Sampson (1st overall, 1983)
Much like the next player listed, Ralph Sampson saw his career hampered by injuries. Before that though, the 7-foot-4 center was a dominant player who won Rookie of the Year in 1983-84 and finished 10th in MVP voting the following year. The Rockets reached the NBA Finals during his third season.
4. Yao Ming (1st overall, 2002)
It’s a shame Yao Ming couldn’t stay healthy for a sustained amount of time (after his first three seasons) for much of the remainder of his career. While he played just eight seasons, in four of them he made an All-NBA team. In his career, the 7-foot-6 center had averages of 19.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks.
3. Calvin Murphy (18th overall, 1970)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993, Calvin Murphy played all 13 of his seasons with the Rockets. Four different seasons, he averaged at least 20 points per game. He likely would have been even more valuable in today’s game with the three-point shot so prevalent due to Murphy’s sharpshooting and career 89.2% free-throw shooting.
2. Elvin Hayes (1st overall, 1968)
Elvin Hayes had two stints with the Rockets consisting of his first four and final three years in the league. As a rookie, he led the league in scoring, and the following year, he led the league in rebounding. In his first four seasons, Hayes posted averages of 27.4 points and 16.3 rebounds.
1. Hakeem Olajuwon (1st overall, 1984)
One of the best centers of all-time, Hakeem Olajuwon spent 17 seasons with the Rockets. His accolades include 1993-94 MVP, two-time Defensive Player of the Year, two-time Finals MVP, and 12 All-NBA nods. ‘The Dream’ has the most blocks in NBA history with 3,830.
Photo credit: © Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
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