ESPN's Chad Ford left a nice chunk of information for the end of his latest draft notes:
The Rockets continue to be as active as any team in the league. They would really like to move up into the top five. However, it looks like they've already turned down at least one offer to package picks Nos. 14 and 16 to get into the top 10.
Sources say that while the Rockets want to move up because they feel the draft is really strong in the middle of the first round, they don't want to give up many assets to move up just a few spots.
Yes, there are concerns that the Rockets won't be able to get their hands on one of the top bigs (I expect Drummond and Leonard to be off the board by then, and there's a good chance, given the Hornets' trade, that Zeller may be off the board too). However, the Rockets have other ways of adding bigs. The team will have significant cap space this summer and has its eye on restricted free agents Roy Hibbert and Omer Asik. Houston is one of those teams that will always draft the best player available, regardless of need.
I'm assuming the Rockets would be thrilled to trade 14 and 16 to get a top-ten pick, but perhaps the team in question asked for more. Maybe Kyle Lowry. Who knows.
Fact is, Chad Ford keeps mocking two players I'd prefer the Rockets pass on (Tyler Zeller and Arnett Moultrie) and then he basically sums up my argument at the very end. Omer Asik is a very intriguing option and I'd rather the Rockets add an athletic wing player.
Also, the rest of this snippet — "as active as any team", "they feel the draft is strong in the middle" — was written three years ago.