Houston Rockets Trade Breakdown Change in Team Outlook: +14.8 ppg, -1.2 rpg, and +3.2 apg. Incoming Players C.J. McCollum 34 year old, 6-3, 190 lb G from Lehigh 18.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.6 apg in 30.9 minutes in 2025-2026 Outgoing Players Fred VanVleet 31 year old, 6-0, 197 lb G from Wichita State No games yet played in 2025-2026 Clint Capela 31 year old, 6-10, 256 lb PF from Chalon-Sur-Saone (France) 3.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.4 apg in 11.0 minutes in 2025-2026 + Return 2 = second Round picks from the Whitmore trade. WIN WIN
I’d rather trade Holiday + 2nds for Westbrook It’s fun to make fun of Westbrook but he’s actually avg just a hair more higher 3pt% than Schroeder and on more attempts. Avg. 7 assist on a terrible team. Imagine what he could do off the bench with our shooters around him. He’s also on a vet min. Westbrook would compete where Dennis is probably here for paychecks
I just googled that and I can’t believe that we are giving guys like Holiday & FVV no trade clauses. Seems kinda silly
Westbrook could be an excellent bench signing. It comes with caveats. He should never be in the lineup close and late, because he just can’t help himself not to play hero ball. Reed and Westbrook could form an excellent backcourt coming off the bench. Westbrook certainly still has a drive and dish skill-set and would complement Reed very well. Of course, adding Westbrook adds some risk to the locker room. Would he be willing to take a back seat to our young core? Would he be content with 15 min or so a night off the bench? Would Ime overplay him as a vet?
I didn’t know where to put this randomness… Move KD for FRPs and expiring contracts. Yes he is superhero. OR cash in on potential for real players today to put around him. but… Timing is everything and we don’t want to look back and regretting the decision of keeping him. He is not delivering a championship trophy this year. (Without HELP) but… He is going to get paid and it shouldn’t be by us. The cap is real and limits us from keeping our youth and him. Eason, Thompson and Shepherd all need their share. but… I’m okay with letting KD walk in free agency to keep them all, but would really rather turn him for a profit. (Build for the future) but.. The here and now Our playoff advancement will look that different maybe a round if that. (OKC, Denver, Spurs) We have trouble beat better teams in the regular season now. (Not happening this year) would/ should we invest that much cap space in a player that will soon be a less than he is now. When our team is set to peak in the future. Our choice => sell the future for now or sell now for the future? Rockets compete rebuild VS KD & help (2 maybe 3 year window) To profit off of KD something needs to happen…
Who is KD going to be traded to? Will he agree? Trading KD and getting anything substantial in return is problematic. Just look at the return Phoenix got for him.
VanVleet+Capela+ Future lotto protected 1st for Jrue Holiday. Non FVV trade Capela+Tari+Holiday+Green+ lotto protected first for Austin Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt. It would seem for us to be able to keep Reaves next year. We would either need Fred to opt out or to trade him into cap space. LA gets a core defender to pair with Luka and I do think you are seeing Capella will have some value over the next three years. they get a first rounder, albeit a crappy one. Obviously there is a lot of risk that we’re just unable to keep Reaves. This puts Amen a bit more as a 3&D wing this year. Although we certainly want to continue to develop him as a ball handler. Vanderbilt can help a little bit to offset the loss of ease and defensively and serve as a stretch Big sometimes. Also a local Houston kid if I remember right Sengun/Adams Smith/Vanderbilt KD/DFS Amen Reaves/Reed
Trading a guy you might not be able to sign for one you definitely won’t be able to sign seems problematic to me, but our offense would be much improved. Defense might be even worse.
Do you think we over paid? I don’t know if we did or didn’t. We haven’t seen him with a lead guard to be fair. Could / would / should we take a similar deal if one is an available?
For one very good starter like Dillon, one young guy with potential and a lottery pick, maybe, if the players we were getting fit. Which to me, means a very good SG/combo guard with a good 3 pt shot, maybe a young backup center, and a lottery pick in 26. There just anybody out there like that. I don’t know how much of a factor KD approving the deal would be. I know a lot of the press would be extremely negative, since he chose us specifically.
The team didn’t give them no trade clauses. The CBA did. The only way to avoid the no trade clauses was to not sign them at all, which I would have been more than alright with.
TJ McConnell is the best PG likely available at this time. He has good handles, can get to the rim and finish fairly efficiently and is a defensive pest. He's not a good 3-point shooter but if he were, he'd be much more expensive to obtain. I think trading DFS and a protected first-round pick for McConnell would make us a better team and better-prepared for the playoffs. I think Okogie's unexpected play has made DFS unnecessary. We need another PG. A Sheppard and McConnell platoon would look pretty good.
