The Houston Rockets are loaded with young talent, but, at 16-8 with the second-best defense in the NBA, they are also an extremely good team right now. Last summer, Adrian Wojnarowski, then of ESPN, reported that they wanted to trade for Kevin Durant. In theory, the Rockets could still go star-hunting before this year’s trade deadline. And on Tuesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler was open to the idea of Houston (or Dallas or Golden State) being his next destination.
According to Rockets general manager Rafael Stone, though, they’re not interested in making a big swing. With the caveat that he must at least listen to other teams’ proposals, Stone said in a SiriusXM NBA Radio interview on Tuesday that the plan is to play out the season with the roster they have.
“Of course, my job is to be open to everything, so I’m not going to not do my job,” Stone said. “We like this team. We definitely do not intend to change anything, and I would be shocked if something changes this season. We like where we’re at. We want to continue to develop our guys, full stop. Will I listen to other teams? Of course I will, that’s my job. But again, no, there’s no part of me, there’s no part of our decision-making process that suggests that we’re looking to do anything big now or in the near term. We definitely — we want this group to be as good as it can be this year and then we’ll evaluate things at the end of the year. But the hope is very much that this core group can lead us to where we want to go and that, from a transactional perspective, we’re largely done.”
Rockets prioritizing internal development
Stone’s comments align with previous reporting on the subject. In late October, after Houston signed center Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green to contract extensions, Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported that, while rival teams thought Houston was still interested in Durant and would be interested in Butler if he became available, the messaging from the Rockets was that they were unlikely to make any trade of consequence during the season. In mid-November, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that Houston was telling teams it wasn’t interested in trading its young players and that Tari Eason and Amen Thompson specifically were “labeled off limits.”
The Stein Line then reported that the Rockets had remained consistent with their stance, even though rivals thought they were merely biding their time until they could make a play for Durant or Giannis Antetokounmpo. It followed up that report with another one: Houston’s interest in Durant may have been overstated, and the front office maintains that it is prioritizing internal development, regardless of what executives around the league are saying.
Generally speaking, it is smart to be skeptical of how executives describe their plans publicly. It is notable, though, that Stone is being as definitive as he is here. These comments don’t guarantee that the Rockets are going to leave the roster alone in the short term, but they do suggest that an unexpected opportunity would have to present itself for them to make a big move.
It’s worth noting, too, that, Green and Sengun are mechanically extremely difficult to trade in-season because of the extensions they signed in October. If Houston were truly focused on making a major move as soon as possible, it probably would have at least held off on the Green extension.
