You cannot talk about failed franchises of the last 10 years without mentioning the Houston Rockets. Over the last decade, the Rockets have been clawing at an opportunity to get to the NBA finals, only to be stopped short in a first-round blowout. The team has lost significant players such as James Harden, who is now on the Nets, and Russell Westbrook, who is currently on the Lakers. These losses, along with shaky ownership, catapulted Houston into a rebuild for the next couple of years. However, the team did make some solid choices in the 2021 draft, speeding up the process of this rebuild by selecting four upcoming prospects: Shooting Guard, Jalen Green with pick #2, a Turkish MVP in Alperen Sengun with pick #16, Spaniard Forward, Usman Garuba with pick #23, and Guard, Josh Christopher with pick #24. While all of these picks are solid choices at their respective sports, it’s hard to ignore the elephant in the room, lack of experience. Houston is one of the youngest teams in the NBA. 10 out of 15 players are under 25, which can cause faulty leadership at the core of the team. They are now the last seed in the western conference as they are 10-27 on the season, so they have to be feeling frustrated about their performance as young players usually do in the NBA. all of these factors, combined with last night’s game against the Nuggets led to what we saw yesterday night when a situation broke out in the Rockets locker room at halftime.
During a game against the Nuggets this past Saturday, a heated exchange took place in Houston’s locker room according to Sham Charania. Star point guard of the Rockets, Kevin Porter Jr, who has a proven set of skills as a scorer, reportedly threw a random object at Rocket’s assistant John Lucas when taking harsh criticism. Porter left the arena shortly after this exchange. Rockets big man Christian Wood, who has been solid around the glass as a rim protector, also took offense to Lucas’ criticism and sat out for the rest of the game, refusing to sub back in. Wood ended up breaking a team rule that night so he wasn’t going to play in the second half regardless of his emotional state. While we don’t know the full reason for Porter Jr’s outburst of emotion, what we do know is that head coach Stephen Silas is very disappointed about what occurred last night. He went on record saying that, “We were angry at halftime that we had just given up 47 points. We watched the film. We had a spirited debate. I have certain demands of this group as far as playing hard. Making mistakes is different than giving the effort, and I wasn’t satisfied with the effort”. Jae’Sean Tate, a defensive anchor for the Rockets who showed his class and leadership during the post-game conference, also chipped in by saying that, “We’re a family, and sometimes family business doesn’t need to be put out there” responding to the halftime incident. Other team members also reconciled with Silas regarding the team’s performance that night.
After last night, Kevin Porter has since apologized for his overreaction in the locker room according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, and has resolved any underlying issues between him and the coaching staff. While this may have been just a bump in the road for the Rockets, it’s clear that there’s more room for improvement and leadership within Houston’s locker room.
Many people have proposed that the Rockets need to trade for veteran leadership before the trade deadline, and we here at Condensed sports are inclined to agree. With over half the team being so young there is a serious need for more level-headed, experienced guys in order to elevate the Rockets to the next level. So, without further ado, we present two trade scenarios that would beef up the Rocket’s playoff chances in the near future.
Scenario 1: Trading Christian Wood
Even though this seems unlikely, the Rockets organization should try to consider trading Christian wood. With Wood recently breaking team conduct rules and being out of character recently, this is the perfect opportunity to seek out trades from other teams. Wood has been a solid Forward/Center in the NBA this season, averaging around 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and about a block this season. Those are some impressive numbers coming from Wood after coming off of a solid 2020-21 season where he averaged around 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block that season. Even though Wood is consistent, the Rockets need a true, dominant big man at the front half of the court. Daniel Theis is a serviceable center coming out of his prime years but he is not as powerful at the 5 as he used to be. So, the Rockets need to scour the market in order to find a replacement; they will probably land on the one and only team that has publicly announced that they are rebuilding: The Indiana Pacers.
Around the beginning of December, sources that are very close to the Pacers organization announced that they are beginning a rebuild, putting up star Power Forward Domantas Sabonis, stretch big center Myles Turner, and Shooting guard Caris LeVert on the trade market. Like the Rockets, the Pacers have not gotten close to an NBA championship within the last decade. Sabonis, an all-star Forward on the Pacers, was supposed to be the focus of the team and Turner along with LeVert were supposed to be building blocks around him. That has clearly not been working out, as the Pacers are the 13th seed in the east with a record of 14-22 on the season. A trade is clearly needed for both of these teams, so why not strike a deal?
Rockets send: Christian Wood, D.J. Augustin, a 2022 first-round pick (unprotected), and a 2025 first-round pick (unprotected)
Pacers send: Domantas Sabonis and Justin Holiday
Now, we here at Condensed sports understand that this trade may look insane to some people but, just hear us out for a second. The Pacers getting Christian Wood and a couple of first-round picks makes sense because of how much better of a player Sabonis is compared to Wood. Wood is a solid guy but Sabonis could shift the Rockets offense to levels it hasn’t reached since the James Harden era. It is also apparent that Sabonis will require more trade value compared to Wood, hence the draft capital given up in this trade. Augustin and Holiday are mainly cap fillers in order to make this trade work but, the rockets gain an additional veteran who is level headed in the locker room while the pacers get a serviceable point guard while Malcolm Brogdon and Chris Duarte are out due to Covid-19 protocols. The Pacers win the deal long term but the Rockets win the deal short term with the immediate impact of Sabonis at starting Power Forward. Even though he is 25, he could also take rookie Usman Garuba under his wing and lighten the load of the rookies.
Scenario 2: Trading Kevin Porter Jr.
This is the other option that the Rockets can pursue. After yesterday’s incident, the Rockets may consider trading away Kevin Porter Jr. Porter Jr has been a solid guard for the Houston Rockets averaging around 16 points 6 assists last season. However, this season has caused a dip in production for Porter averaging just 12 points and 5 assists this season. Even though the season is far from over, Porter has not been playing with the same intensity this season. This could be due to a number of factors including the team’s shady management issues and Porter Jr’s own mental health which has been a concern ever since he entered the league. In order for this trade to happen, the Rockets need to shift their focus from building around Porter to building around the number 2 overall pick in 2021: Jalen Green. While this may seem like an odd move made by Houston, they’ve done things like this in the past, like letting James harden and Russell Westbrook go. In our eyes, we only see one outcome for a Porter trade to go down: a blockbuster with the Boston Celtics.
As the trade deadline gets closer and closer, many sources have speculated about trades involving star Boston Celtics shooting guard, Jaylen Brown. Brown’s stats haven’t been that bad this season, averaging about 23 points and 2 assists, but the relationship between him and Jayson Tatum on the court this season have sparked trade rumors ahead of February 10th. A trade between Houston and Boston could go down considering that the Celtics need a decent young guard to compliment Tatum’s game and the Rockets need all-star talent to compliment Jalen Green.
Celtics send: Jaylen Brown, 2023 second-round pick
Rockets send: Kevin Porter Jr, Eric Gordon, 2023 first-round pick (via BKN), a 2023 first-round pick (lottery protected), and a 2024 second-round pick
This trade works out for both teams for two reasons. Reason number one is how Kevin Porter Jr compliments Jayson Tatum’s game. Tatum and Porter are both solid scorers which could work out well for the two of them because of the similar mindset that they share. Tatum is the leader of that team as well so Porter Jr can remain more calm in situations because he is now a complimentary piece to Tatum. The second reason comes from the dynamic between Jaylen brown and Jalen Green. Green is the future of the rockets and with a guy like Jaylen Brown coming to the Rockets, it allows Green to learn from Brown by playing with him on the court (Jalen Green would be playing point guard in this situation, which could heighten his playmaking ability in the future). Brown is a proven talent in the NBA so a huge amount of draft capital is needed in order to strike a deal with Boston. Eric Gordon serves as a cap filler for this situation. He is also a serviceable guard like DJ Augustin (mentioned above) and he can be thrown in the mix with the plethora of guards in green.
The Rockets really need to turn it around. Trades like this might be the only shot at saving the franchise as a whole and getting closer to an NBA championship run. The coaching staff is more than capable of leading a team of that caliber. However, it is up to the players to decide the fate of the team. It’s going to be an interesting 2022 for the city of Houston. Will they alter the franchise or will the players finally step up and turn it around?
Condensed media 
Leave a comment