The Houston Rockets have the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, but there is a strong sense that general manager Rafael Stone will trade the selection before the first round on June 26.
Trading out of the No. 3 pick doesn’t mean the Rockets will move out of the top 30 altogether. An ideal fit for Stone would be to move back into the late lottery or mid-first-round.
The draft will feature several gems the Rockets could add if they are able to trade down, and Baylor prospect Ja’Kobe Walter is an ideal fit. The 6-foot-5 guard possesses the intangibles to develop into a prominent two-way player.
“A lot of people know me as a shooter,” Walter said at the NBA Combine on May 14. “I can bring more space on the court. Just having me on the court, they [the opponent] will have to know where I am because I can knock down shots.
“On the defensive end, my competitiveness, I am going to guard. If they need me to guard the best player, then that’s what I am going to do.”
During his lone season playing for the Baylor Bears, Walker averaged 14.5 points on 37.6 percent shooting from the field and 4.4 rebounds across 35 games as a freshman.
His best game of the 2023-24 college season came during Baylor’s 88-82 victory over Auburn in November. Walter scored a season-best 28 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, 4-of-7 from behind the arc. He also pulled down five rebounds in the win.
