The Houston Rockets are putting up an incredible regular-season campaign. They currently stand second in the Western Conference with a 31-14 record. Everyone on the roster—from the young guns to the veterans—is doing their part in securing their spot atop a competitive Western Conference.
While Houston is enjoying a terrific regular season, their team is far from perfect. The team has an exciting future, but a major trade like what the Lakers did for Luka Doncic would immediately shoot them up the rankings as potential title favorites.
However, it seems like Ime Udoka is happy with the team he’s got as the team has reportedly taken a stance at the eleventh hour of the 2025 trade deadline.
Jeff Balke of the Houston Press writes that the team can make a blockbuster trade akin to Los Angeles with the number of assets and draft picks at their disposal. They have enough to convince the Phoenix Suns to part ways with Devin Booker.
However, the team’s young core can benefit a lot through the upcoming postseason. Even if they burn out in the playoff’s early stages, the experience will help Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, and the rest of the roster develop for future campaigns.
Moreover, he emphasized that, unlike the Lakers, time is on their side:
They aren’t running up against big contract decisions for coaches or players. There is no concern about burning through the prime of aging members of the roster. And they are, by many measures, ahead of where plenty of people thought they would be. They will eventually have to wrestle with difficult contract decisions, but not yet and why rush that?
Many Rockets fans will hope this is the case for their squad. It’s in the team’s best interests to keep the core for a couple of years to identify the roster’s weaknesses and act upon them by then.
However, the Doncic trade reminded everyone that no one in the league is untradeable, and fans can only breathe once February 6 passes.
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