HOUSTON — The most inexcusable loss of the season for the Houston Rockets came Wednesday night — less than 24 hours before the NBA trade deadline.
Timing couldn’t have been any worse. Or, maybe it was prophetic.
It was a 114-93 thumping at home against a Boston Celtics team on the second night of a back-to-back and without All-Star forward Jaylen Brown. It was a game that put on full display all the issues that have haunted this Rockets team during its lowest moments. Stagnant offense. Below average 3-point shooting. Rocky point guard play. Inconsistent involvement of Kevin Durant.
“We haven’t put a full, consistent game together in a while,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said after the loss. “The edge is missing. We don’t have that on a nightly basis. … We’re just going through the motions at times.”
There have already been a few major transactions over the past few days, with James Harden, Anthony Davis, Jaren Jackson Jr. and others all finding new homes since the start of the week. After a loss this ugly on their home floor, pleas to shake up the Rockets’ roster in some way, any way, may be louder than they’ve been all season.
Although the Rockets are 31-18 and 2 1/2 games behind the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference standings, there is some frustration within the team and around the fanbase that this group hasn’t performed at a higher level on a more consistent basis.
While it’s only natural to look for change by shaking up the roster, this team’s best path forward is the same as it’s been for weeks. A quiet approach to the deadline may be the smartest way to respond to a difficult set of circumstances. It’s probably fair to say the current iteration of the Rockets has a slim chance of making it through three rounds of the conference playoffs, but maintaining future flexibility and not overcorrecting feels like their best strategy.
The bargaining chips required for any big moves in the final hours before the deadline are limited because of the contracts currently on the books. Durant, Alperen Şengün and Amen Thompson obviously will not be moved, as the foundational pieces for this team. In the same vein, although the inconsistent play of Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard has been a source of frustration all season, they are too young for Houston to give up on at this point. And Smith’s contract makes any move involving him more complicated after he signed a five-year, $122 million extension last summer.
The contracts of Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams, both projected to miss the rest of the season, equal about $39 million on this year’s books. But those two are far too important as veteran leaders to ship away before the deadline. Additionally, any deal involving VanVleet becomes a crap shoot, because of the 31-year-old’s implied no-trade clause in his deal, which includes a player option for the 2026-27 season.
All signs point to VanVleet viewing Houston as his long-term home, so getting him to agree to a trade would be an uphill battle. And adding healthy versions of VanVleet and Adams to next year’s Rockets would be a huge boost, as opposed to tossing them away with the hope of making win-now moves not certain to work.
Dorian Finney-Smith’s performance on the court has mostly been a disappointment after he signed a four-year, $53 million contract last summer. Getting another team to take on the three years remaining on his contract probably would require additional draft capital.
Clint Capela hasn’t exactly been a game-changer after signing a three-year, $21.5 million deal last summer. But much like Finney-Smith, the multiple years remaining on his contract may scare off some suitors. Finney-Smith and Capela are the most compelling trade pieces Houston could use to in any effort to add to the rotation, but my sense is there’s not much of an appetite to move either player.
Tari Eason (17) has been a reliable player for the Rockets but is set to hit restricted free agency after the season. (Tim Warner / Getty Images)
The same holds true for fourth-year forward Tari Eason, who is set to hit restricted free agency in the summer. Eason is a young athlete who could attract some decent offers for teams looking to add size and defense on the perimeter, but the Rockets have reportedly been turning away any potential suitors. All signs point to the Rockets re-signing Eason to a lucrative deal, which will require some creative cap management with Durant, Şengün, VanVleet and Smith all due to make $20-plus million next season and Thompson gearing up for a potential max extension of his own.
That’s a major reason behind Houston’s reluctance to acquire players who will add more money to the books. Point guard Coby White was a name often attached to the Rockets in recent weeks, but he’s set to hit unrestricted free agency after this season and was moved on Wednesday from the Chicago Bulls to the Charlotte Hornets. Would giving up future assets for White be worth it if he ultimately turned into just a rental before walking after the playoffs? The Rockets clearly chose to back away from those negotiations.
Could another talented ballhandler like White make a huge difference for this team? Absolutely. It’s fairly obvious how badly the Rockets need someone to organize the offense on most nights. But after losses Wednesday night’s, it’s easy to forget that all the underlying stats say they’re one of the elite teams in the league on both ends of the court.
The issue hasn’t been the Rockets’ ability to compete with the top teams. It’s about consistency, maintaining the effort and energy required to play their brand of basketball. When the Rockets come in with the right mental approach, they’re capable of beating anyone. It’s getting them to maintain that focus that’s been the biggest issue.
Could a calculated risk in the open market address some of those problems? Perhaps. But finding the right kind of player — with the right kind of contract — won’t be easy.
The difficult reality for Houston is any all-in move it may need doesn’t make sense until after the season. Durant isn’t getting any younger, but the Rockets have to be smart about when and how they will take risks to build up a roster that doesn’t have much flexibility while maintaining their young core and competing with Durant.
It doesn’t sound as exciting heading into trade deadline day as other teams make big moves, but Houston shouldn’t overreact to what at times has held them back. It doesn’t make sense to compromise the future just to squeeze everything they can out of Durant’s first year in Houston.
If the Rockets start looking in the mirror, they’ll see that they have what it takes to put some of these bad losses behind them. Waiting for a magical point guard to fall from the sky and solve all of their problems is unrealistic.
The answers this team is looking for have to come from within, and not from the trade machine.