Five Questions Ahead of Nets vs. Rockets

The Houston Rockets are back at home after a long road trip as they host the struggling Brooklyn Nets.

To learn more about the Rockets' next opponent, we spoke with Brooklyn Nets On SI contributor Wilko Martinez-Cachero.

The Rockets play the Nets twice at the beginning of February. How has the season gone so far for Brooklyn?

The Nets are in a total rebuild. The season started off a bit more competitively, but that fell by the wayside after Dennis Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith were traded to the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers, respectively. Cam Thomas and Cam Johnson dealing with injuries hasn’t helped, either, since they’ve been Brooklyn’s best players. Depending on who you ask, though, this is a good thing. Many Nets fans want a total teardown and restart, and it will seemingly begin with the 2025 Draft.

What’s one thing people should know about the Nets that can’t be found in a box score?

On most nights, new first-year head coach Jordi Fernández has the team playing hard and genuinely competing. Again, that’s sort of changed recently because of Brooklyn’s injuries and trade moves, but the foundations for what Fernández wants to do in terms of defensive intensity and ball movement are already noticeable.

What are the Nets looking to do with the trade deadline coming up?

The biggest item for the Nets ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline is Cam Johnson’s future. He’s basically been linked to every contender in the NBA, but the Nets want two first-rounders for him — plus additional compensation, it seems. That’s a steep price, plus Johnson is making more than $20m this season, which makes his contract trickier to move with the new CBA despite his complementary fit on most rosters.

If the Nets were to somehow beat against the Rockets, what would be the reason why?

An unexpected player going off. Think Tyrese Martin dropping 30 points against the Suns in late November to propel Brooklyn to an unlikely win.

What’s your prediction for the game?

The Rockets should take this game easily. Plus, the two Cams (Thomas and Johnson) remain out, so the Nets have very little firepower.