The Houston Rockets Hold All the Cards When It Comes to Potential Trades

The Houston Rockets have begun the process of evaluating their current team and preparing for offseason workouts as the NBA playoffs have now moved into the conference finals. The Rockets, for the first time in five years, are going into an offseason after making the playoffs.

The Rockets have been involved in most of the trade rumors this offseason as they are one of the few teams with draft picks and young players for whom other teams would like to trade, and they were a winning team. The Rockets check off all the boxes of a team with the assets to pull off a major trade.

The two names mentioned the most in connection with the Rockets have been Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Durant has been with the Phoenix Suns for the last three seasons, and their big three of Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker has been a disappointment, to say the least.

Durant only played eight games in his first season with the Suns, and despite playing the majority of the next two seasons, the Suns have not made it past the second round in any of his three seasons and were a lottery team this past season. To make matters worse for the Suns, this season's pick is going to the Houston Rockets, which was part of a trade the two teams made before the trade deadline.

For Antetokounmpo, the situation in Milwaukee is slightly different as he has spent his entire career with the Bucks, winning one championship in 2021. However, the trade for Damian Lillard has not produced the results they hoped for when they made that blockbuster trade in 2023. Antetokounmpo still has a few years left on his current contract, but the superstar forward is starting to see the writing on the wall regarding his current team.

For the Rockets, the situation is the same when it comes to possible trades with either team. The Rockets hold all the cards in any trade scenario. The reason for that is that the Rockets are not desperate to make a trade.

The Rockets don't have a disgruntled star player; they have to move a player on an expiring contract or coming off a season where they underperformed. The Rockets could efficiently run it back one more season and get better, considering the majority of their roster is 23 years or younger.

Rafael Stone has repeatedly said that they could bring back the same core as last season and make minor moves to improve the team's depth. It is known at this point that trading for Giannis will cost a lot more than any trade for Durant. The Rockets are not willing to mortgage their entire future for any player, even one as good as Antetokounmpo.

For now, the Rockets can afford to be patient as they wait for the NBA draft and closer to the start of next season. That is when teams start to become more anxious about possible moves as they look to lock down their opening-game rosters.

Whatever happens this offseason, one thing is for sure: the Rockets are in their best position in a long time.