After winning back-to-back thrillers in Boston and Atlanta, the Rockets are second in the West, on a 57-win pace with the NBA’s Feb. 6 trade deadline fast approaching.
Back in December, general manager Rafael Stone told NBA SiriusXM Radio that he does not “intend to change anything”, but that doesn’t mean he won’t.
If he wants to make a move, Stone is armed with $28 million in expiring contracts on his bench, a $43 million expiring contract in his starting lineup, two of his own first round picks, six second round picks, and draft assets from Brooklyn and Phoenix, not to mention a bunch of high-ceiling young players that every team wants to get its hands on.
Outside of Jimmy Butler and De’Aaron, who the Rockets have shown no interest in, there don’t appear to be any big fish available at this year’s deadline, but there are some small moves that could move the needle and help the Rockets in their first playoff run since 2020.
Here are a few ideas of ways Stone can improve the team:
Robert Williams (Center- Portland)
Ime Udoka isn’t the type to stand around and banter with opposing players and coaches after games, so despite the history they have together, it was striking to see him and assistants Ben Sullivan and Garrett Jackson chatting away with Williams after the Rockets win in Portland earlier this month. The Rockets had interest in reuniting Williams with all his old Boston coaches last season, but they opted for Steven Adams instead.
The Celtics finished Udoka’s lone season as head coach with the NBA’s best defense, allowing 106.2 points per 100 possessions, but that number went down to 103.4 when Williams was on the floor, and while Marcus Smart was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, Williams earned a first and second place vote, while being named second team All Defense.
The fit would be a little strange with Sengun and Adams already on the roster, and it’s hard to see the Rockets playing Williams and Sengun together, but Williams is under contract next season whereas Adams is not.
The trade: Robert Williams for Jock Landale and a bevy of second round picks
Eric Gordon (Guard- Philadelphia)
Gordon has played in the Rockets last 60 games, so it’s only fitting to bring him back now that the postseason drought is about to end. The veteran guard was interested in a reunion last summer, but the Rockets elected to stick with what they had and Gordon instead reunited with Daryl Morey for $3.3 million with a player’s option for $3.5 million next season.
The 36-year old hasn’t put up big numbers in Philly, but he is shooting 39.7 percent from behind the three-point line after shooting 38 percent last season in Phoenix, which followed a 42 percent stretch in 22 games with the Clippers after his trade from the Rockets.
Following a dreadful start, the Sixers are 11th in the East, but should have no trouble working their way into the top 10, so it’s unclear if they would want to sell, though losing Gordon, who is only averaging 6.7 points per game, is a loss that a team with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George should be able to overcome. The Sixers are currently over the first luxury tax apron, and trading Gordon would get them halfway towards getting under that threshold.
Gordon easily fits with a Rockets team that is probably a guard short at the moment. Aaron Holiday has done a nice job in spot minutes this season, but Gordon would probably be an upgrade, both as a shooter and as a defender, at least against bigger players.
The trade: Eric Gordon for a second round pick
Malcolm Brogdon (Guard- Washington)
Brogdon has had trouble staying on the floor throughout his career, but he’s been a solid option at both guard spots when he’s been healthy and that’s the one area where the Rockets are lacking, especially point guard, and the 32-year old has history with Udoka, who was the Celtics coach when Brogdon was traded in 2022, but fired before he could coach the 2017 Rookie of the Year.
True to form, a foot injury has cost Brogdon the last 12 games after he missed the Wizards first 11 contests of the season due to a thumb injury, so he’s appeared in just 18-of-45 games after just playing in 39 last season with Portland, but the season before he won Sixth Man of the Year in Boston.
Brogdon is in the final year of a two-year, $45 million contract, and the Rockets could make a trade work by stacking Landale’s non-guaranteed contract with Jeff Green’s expiring contract, but I don’t think would want to do that because of how much Green’s mentorship means inside the locker room and it would add a pretty big chunk of money to the Rockets payroll, but that’s why God invented the buyout market.
The trade: There won’t be a trade, but Brogdon is an interesting buyout possibility after the deadline