{"id":183488,"date":"2025-09-26T18:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T18:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/183488\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T18:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T18:19:07","slug":"grading-a-stunning-trade-proposal-that-has-the-rockets-landing-a-star-guard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/183488\/","title":{"rendered":"Grading a stunning trade proposal that has the Rockets landing a star guard"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Houston Rockets will feel a void in their backcourt with Fred VanVleet injured. Some analysts have them rushing to make a trade for a short-term fix. <\/p>\n

Bleacher Report did it twice in one article. I graded their Reed Sheppard for Norman Powell proposal<\/a> just yesterday. Spoiler alert: It didn’t receive a grade you’d want to take home to your parents. The article’s other deal is certainly more reasonable: <\/p>\n

Whether the Rockets ought to do it is questionable. <\/p>\n

Rockets go all-in on All-Star guard in new proposal <\/p>\n

The All-Star guard in question is Tyrese Maxey. Zach Buckley has the Rockets paying a pretty penny<\/a> for his services. <\/p>\n

Here’s a basic fact: This is Maxey’s market value. Is it high? Yes. Is Maxey worth it? <\/p>\n

In a vacuum, yes. <\/p>\n

In 2024-25, Maxey averaged 26.3 points and 6.1 assists per game at just 24 years old. His 2.0 Box Plus\/Minus (BPM) was mediocre, but the Sixers’ entire season was a circus. The 3.1 mark he posted in 2023-24 is a more accurate reflection of his ability. <\/p>\n

If you’ve watched Maxey enough, you know what he’s capable of. He’s blindingly quick, and with a 6’6″ wingspan, he plays bigger than his listed 6’2″ height suggests. His ability to get to the rim is elite, and he’s a capable shooter and passer. <\/p>\n

Am I talking myself into this? <\/p>\n

Rockets must be selective with assets <\/p>\n

This deal reflects Maxey’s market value. The question is whether the Rockets ought to pay market value for Tyrese Maxey. <\/p>\n

Parting with Tari Eason is particularly painful. Out of the outgoing players, that’s the toughest pill to swallow. Maxey would be replacing Sheppard (and then some) in 2025-26, and he’d be replacing VanVleet long-term. The Rockets can justify sending out both in a trade for a star guard. <\/p>\n

The Rockets signed Capela for a reason. They want to be able to deploy double big lineups at will. They’d lose this ability after that trade, but it’d be easy to argue that having a reliable lead guard is a higher priority. <\/p>\n

Besides Eason, what stings here is sending out their two best draft assets<\/a>. The Rockets have seemed intent on hanging onto these picks for an MVP-level superstar. As good as Maxey is, he doesn’t clear that bar. <\/p>\n

If the Sixers call with this offer, it should keep Rafael Stone up at night. It’s a difficult call. He could justify doing it, or not doing it, but it’s an undeniably fair offer. <\/p>\n

Unlike some proposals Buckley has made recently. <\/p>\n

Grade: B<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Houston Rockets will feel a void in their backcourt with Fred VanVleet injured. Some analysts have them…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-183488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}