The Houston Rockets REPORTEDLY Have A TRICK Up Their Sleeve…

The Houston Rockets REPORTEDLY Have A TRICK Up Their Sleeve…

So, we got some big time Houston Rocket updates today. Starting off with the first one, and that’s Kevin Durant. So, the Phoenix Suns have gradually lowered the asking price for Kevin Durant, and that is a price point where Houston would be interested. Now, the Rockets do have concerns with Kevin Durant in the sense that he is 36 years old. He’s dealt with some injuries recently, and of course, he’d probably have to break up the young Cory to go out and get him. I understand that the 10th overall pick would be on the table, but somebody else has to go with that for salary purposes and it’s still Kevin Durant. Is that going to be Jaylen Green? Obviously, you’re not trading Alpen Shenon. If the price is right, the Rockets will get KD, but let’s face it, there’s probably at least five or six teams that are interested in Durant. I don’t think the Rockets are going to end up getting him, which is fine. I’m not sure how I feel about his fit. Would KD put the Rockets over the top? He certainly would help their offense, especially in the half court, but I’m not sure if I’m Raphael Stone, if I’m willing to give up a little bit too much for Durant. I don’t think anybody’s arguing his fit from a talent perspective, but he is older. Of course, he’s on the back end in his career, and he’s not going to be cheap because of the name. And the Suns, they’re not just going to give Kevin Durant away for free. The Suns are interested in making a deal with the Rockets in order to gain back control over some of their draft capital, including the number 10 pick in the upcoming draft, but Houston is hesitant to put too much on the table to make a deal for Durant. Houston’s desire to keep its young cord together is strong, team sources said. And in terms of that 10th overall pick, that’s going to be what to watch for for the Rockets this month because they are open to moving the selection. team sources said either by trading down or out of the draft entirely. The Rockets are also open to pairing the pick with a player in a trade if such a situation should present itself. Sources said and one name to watch out for for that pick is going to be Cam Johnson. Ned Dailyy reported earlier that he’s hearing the Nets may want to move up from 19 to the lottery, offering Cameron Johnson in number 19 to Raptors or Rockets for either Rap’s ninth or Rockets 10th, plus a bad contract. That would give the Nets two picks in top 10, which of course there’s no other team that would be able to do that. And they’re trying to get Giannis. That’s pretty foolish from the Nets because why the hell would Giannis want to go to them if he’s trying to win a championship? he’d just be setting his career backwards at that point. But let the Nets think that they’re going to be able to get Giannis, send Cam and the 19th pick to the Rockets for the 10th pick and Dylan Brooks. Now, Brooks isn’t necessarily a bad contract. He’s a very good defender. He was actually the Rockets best shooter this past season, but he’s not Cameron Johnson. Hopefully, everyone can agree with that. I mean, Cam’s coming off of a season where he averaged 18.8 points per game on 39% shooting. He’d be a legit weapon next to Jaylen Green and Alper and Shenun and Amen Thompson. I mean, it’s not often you get to keep your main core and then add in Cam Johnson to that and you still get a first round pick at number 19. Like the odds of finding the same player at 19 as 10 are pretty similar. I mean, wasn’t Shenun around there? I think he was the 17th pick. So, I’m not saying they’re going to find another Shangun type of player, but it’s still a first round pick. If you have a good scouting team, you’ll be able to end up doing something with that. So, I would absolutely pull the trigger on that trade. But also, if I’m the Rockets, I would want to keep the 10th pick and try to get Derek White, who we talked about in a video a couple of weeks ago, one of the best 3 and D combo guard/wings in this league, won a championship, seems to elevate his game in the biggest moments. I don’t necessarily want Kevin Durant any more than I’d want a Derek White or a Cam Johnson cuz the price is going to be a lot cheaper. And I don’t think the Rockets need a big name like that. I mean, they’re coming off of the second team in the West. If they hadn’t run into the Warriors, who were literally like the hottest team outside of the Pacers in the NBA, they would have been just fine. The Warriors were just a bad matchup. And we all know that they have their number. Of course, there was a report that Amen Thompson is the only player who’s totally untouchable this off season. Though, it’s unclear if that would be true for somebody like Giannis and Tennoompo. Find it hard to believe that the Rockets would not trade a man for Giannis. I saw a report that to be willing to trade Shenun for Giannis. So if you’re going to trade Shenun, why would you not be willing to trade amen? Obviously not both, but just one of them at the top of the package. And no other team’s going to be able to beat that. Like there’s not a team that’s going to be able to go and get Giannis that can offer Shenun or an Amen Thompson. They’re going to have picks to work with. But I mean again, if you’re bringing in Giannis, you have to have pieces around him to compete. And a lot of the teams that want him are going to have to give up those pieces to even get him. like the Nets for example like two top 10 picks just and also salary to match that. It just doesn’t make any sense why they would do that. In terms of Fred Van Vleet, he is expected to be back not necessarily on his $44.9 million team option, but on a negotiated new deal at a lower team friendly salary. Fred likes in a Houston the environment, which makes sense. It’s Houston. I lived there for a couple of years, so I can see why he’d say that. But in terms of Fred, I don’t mind him coming back if it’s a very very cheap deal. But if it’s anywhere even close to 3540 mil, I don’t know why you would do that. You got Reed Shepard, of course, you drafted with a top four pick and he’s the future of this team. So, I don’t wouldn’t be willing to overpay for Fred. I get he had a great playoffs, but there’s going to be tons of options out there. like even like a Don Wright, like you can go get a defensive-minded guard to pair next to a Reed Shepard and a Jaylen Green and Rockets already have enough defense. So, I I personally would honestly would not want Fred back unless it’s a very very team friendly contract. I don’t think Fred’s going to be willing to do that because his agent is of course Paul. So, good luck with that, but we’ll see what happens. But sources are saying with the Rockets that it’s just unlikely that he’s going to end up being anywhere else. In terms of Tari E and Jabari Smith Jr., the Rockets are comfortable matching any offer that would come for either in restricted free agency in 2026. It confused me because I wrote Cam twice. There’s a Cam Johnson and there’s a Cam Whitmore who’s currently on the Rockets. A handful of teams have inquired about the availability of wing Cam Whitmore. Be interesting to see if the Rockets are willing to trade him. Honestly, I wouldn’t hate at all if it makes them better. There’s a lot of wings on this team and if you can get something good for Cam, I mean, why not? And then the last thing I want to talk about is going to be Steven Adams. He is a main priority for the Rockets to be able to bring back, but would not be shocked if he ends up leaving the team in free agency to get a bigger opportunity. Honestly could see him with the Knicks. I think that would be good for him. But in terms of what the Rockets would do if they do end up losing Adams in free agency, I don’t think they will. Like I wouldn’t be surprised, but I don’t think the Rockets, if I’m a betting man, I would I would bet on him returning. But if for some reason he does leave, then the Rockets would pivot to Brook Lopez. 37 years old, averaged 13 points, five rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game, shooting 37% from three in Milwaukee. I mean, is Brook Lopez really a downgrade from Steven Adams? I mean, yes and no. Think he can offer you like the outside shooting. He’s also going to be a good shot blocker, but Adams with his screen setting ability and also just his rebounding and his toughness, I think he’s perfect. I think running Adams and Shenun in certain lineups is going to be extremely effective as we saw. And then of course you also have the ability to go a little bit smaller if you want with Jabari and Shenun and Tares and whatever they want to do. But there there’s a lot of things going right for the Rockets. They don’t want to mess it up with a risky big time trade. I mean trading Jaylen Green for Kevin Durant would just be outrageous to be honest with you. I’d rather go out and get a Derek White or a Cam Johnson or just some sort of piece to complement the current roster. There’s no need to get too aggressive. You’re coming off of a number two seed in the Western Conference. You went to a game seven against the Warriors. Now it’s all about just filling out the rest of the roster and getting leaps from your younger players like Jaylen and Reed and even Shangon and I can’t wait to see of course Tarien and Cam Whitmore and all these wings just continue to get better and better for Eay Udoka.

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