Under-the-Radar Rockets Trade Targets That Would Matter in the Playoffs

The first few NBA trade deadline dominoes have officially fallen, with teams like the Cavaliers, Hawks, Kings and Trail Blazers making moves around the edges of their rosters.

With that, a few potential Rockets’ targets are now off the board, with guards such as Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis headed to Cleveland.

Houston has a few holes in its lineup left by the injuries to Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams, namely play-making, handling and rebounding. While adding players that could supplement that during the regular season would be a plus, the Rockets will ultimately be looking to upgrade with the postseason in mind.

Rockets on SI recently released a trade deadline big board, featuring seven potentially impactful names that Houston could look to add, all of which are still available. Below, we’ll look at three of the players who could play their most impactful basketball in the postseason:

Daniel Gafford, Mavericks

Few players on the list are more proven in the postseason than Mavericks’ big Daniel Gafford, who was vital to the team’s Finals run just a few seasons ago.

The Rockets don’t have a player who could maximize Gafford the was Luka Doncic did in ’24, but he’d still be able to thrive as an interior force, rolling to the rim, grabbing boards and wreaking havoc on defense.

Gafford could be somewhat costly given others across the league will be looking to add a proven center, but it could still be worth it for Houston.

Jusuf Nurkic, Utah Jazz

Nurkic has carved out a nice 12-year NBA career with solid offense overall, and is seeing a career years in facilitating at 5.0 assists per game. There’s little doubt his general scoring punch could help Houston, especially given his rebounding.

Even more, Nurkic is no stranger to the Playoffs, having played in 20 total games with several different teams. He’s seen little to no real drop-off either, scoring 11.5 points on 50% shooting, with 9.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 blocks per game.

Nurkic has drawn attention as a potential contributor for several teams with his play this year, and the Rockets could enter their name into the sweepstakes ahead of the postseason.

Coby White, Bulls

On the slip side of proven postseason impact is Bulls’ guard Coby White, one of the more popular fits for Houston given their lack of a point guard. He’s played in just five postseason games dating back to 2022, and scored just 8.4 points per game on 33% shooting.

White fits in here for a few reasons. Firstly, he’s a drastically different player since his lone Playoffs series, seeing three seasons now of nearly 20 points per game, with a 2-to-1 assist to turnover and white-hot 3-point shooting.

He’s fully broken out in recent years, and looks closer to a star than a role player.

Additionally, White fills a variety of holes for Houston. He can handle, pass and shoot, all of which the team is missing right now. While he’s unproven in terms of the Playoffs, he could send a ripple of relief through the roster in terms of shot-creation, play-making and more, which would be well worth it.