It’s a big summer in Houston.
This is a 52-win Rockets team that took a big step forward this season behind an entertaining and athletic young core led by Alperen Sengun, Amem Thompson and Jalen Green. Houston had the fourth-ranked defense in the league, but the playoffs highlighted how much this team needs an elite bucket getter to spark their half-court offense. Houston has the picks and young players available to assemble a blockbuster trade to get that player.
Just don’t expect it to be the Suns’ Kevin Durant or Devin Booker, and the same is true of the Pelicans’ Zion Williamson, reports Kelly Iko and Sam Amick of The Athletic.
While Durant is widely seen as the most attainable of that group, and he is known to be very interested in playing in Houston, team sources said the Rockets still have significant reservations about that possible partnership, in large part, because Durant’s age (36) would be so out of sync with their younger timeline. It’s worth noting that previous talks between the teams about Durant, team sources said, were initiated by the Suns.
The Rockets have previously held serious interest in the Suns’ Devin Booker, but team sources said that is no longer the case. Not only do team officials still have faith in Jalen Green, who is five years younger than Booker and $66 million cheaper over the next three seasons, but also Booker’s struggles last season shifted the thinking on this front. As for Williamson, who has spent the majority of his first six seasons falling short of expectations while experiencing health issues along the way, team sources said the Rockets see him as too risky.
Durant to Houston is not completely off the table, but it’s only happening if the trade is a complete steal for the Rockets, league sources told NBC Sports. As for Booker, the Rockets may have soured on him slightly, but the Suns have also made it clear from the highest levels of the organization that he is not available. That may have something to do with the Rockets’ stance.
Which leaves Giannis Antetokounmpo, who will sit down with the Milwaukee Bucks front office in the coming weeks and discuss his and the team’s future. He reportedly is open to considering a trade, the first time he has been truly serious about that in his 12-year NBA career.
The Rockets are certainly interested, according to the report, but know the price to land the 30-year-old two-time MVP would be high in terms of players and picks (and one of those players likely would be Sengun, who is not a natural fit next to Antetokounmpo). That said, if Antetokounmpo hits the market, the Rockets will jump into the mix and could put together an offer that would be hard for Milwaukee to turn down.
With all those moving parts, the Rockets and Fred VanVleet agreed to push back the date Houston has to decide on his $44.9 million team option to June 29 — after the draft and close enough to the start of free agency that Houston will have a much better read on the Antetokounmpo situation, as well as other free agents. VanVleet has said he wants to return to the Rockets, and they want him back, but at the right price, and he could be the veteran ball handler not brought back (or sent somewhere else) in a massive trade.
While the Rockets will be at the heart of the offseason trade rumors, GM Raphael Stone has made it clear he would be perfectly happy to run it back with the 52-win team from this season and see how big a step forward they take after this year’s experiences. Don’t be shocked if that is the ultimate outcome.
