The summer for the Houston Rockets was underappreciated. For a team with so much young potential, it’s acceptable that they didn’t improve significantly on paper, but they did secure ownership of the Phoenix Suns’ future draft selections.
The Suns and the Rockets were reportedly in trade talks, with the Rockets hoping to acquire Devin Bookers or Kevin Durant. The Rockets are poised to acquire one of the superstars if the time comes, but the Suns haven’t demonstrated a desire or rationale to part ways with their current big three.
John Hollinger of The Athletic broke down the Rockets’ offseason and the reasons why the Suns and Rockets trade talks will pick back up in the upcoming years.
“… the Rockets started with an unprotected first and an unprotected swap from Brooklyn and ended up with two unprotected firsts from Phoenix and two swaps,” Hollinger stated. “What makes this so exciting for Houston is that the Suns are speeding toward Armageddon despite their own underappreciated summer acquisition of Tyus Jones. Perhaps not even in the upcoming year or this one… But it will arrive soon enough. Being the owner of Suns draft capital from the late decade is an excellent venture.
Regarding contenders, there are two designations. A few are young teams that are quickly making waves. Others have little capital and are based on aging stars. The Suns finish in the later of the two, and when their championship window expires, they’ll have to start over. Bradley Beal and Durant are getting older. This is Booker’s tenth season. Phoenix struggles with cap space and resource constraints, which makes significant improvement difficult.
But the Suns could be saved by the Rockets, who could acquire a superstar in return for the draft capital, enabling Phoenix to undertake a complete rebuilding of the team. By then, Houston might already be a perennial playoff team thanks to their outstanding young core, and adding a superstar could help them break into the postseason.
“Dangling the return of those two picks and some other goodies to get Devin Booker and let the Suns restart in two or three years is perhaps still an underdog bet, and much water will go under the bridge between now and then,” Hollinger said.
Houston is undoubtedly in an excellent position in this situation. There are a lot of decisions to be made between now and then, but the Rockets may already be in a strong position by then because to their developing youthful core, trove of seasoned players, and generally increasing culture.
Breaking: The New Orleans Saints significantly bolster their offensive line (report)
The New Orleans Saints are optimistic that having a healthy Derek Carr will be sufficient to help them qualify for the postseason in 2024. The Saints, who finished with a 9–8, suffered numerous injuries in the most crucial position in sports. Due to a tiebreaker, they lost the division to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who also ended 9-8).
But the Saints revealed today that they added several players to their offense before the 2024 season began.
The New Orleans Saints Incorporate More Offense Reinforcements (Report)
The Saints have activated Juwan Johnson from the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.
Johnson had surgery in early June after sustaining a foot issue that kept him out of training camp entirely. However, Johnson has reportedly been improving and is expected to return to practice at Tulane’s Yulman Stadium on Tuesday. Johnson will also make his first appearance in front of the media after practice since his injury.
Dallin Holker, a UDFA tight end, hurt his ankle during warmups prior to Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers; this is the reason for Johnson’s comeback. For the Saints, yards after catch-capable guys are hard to come by, so this is a big development as the former wide receiver tries to show why he is one of the league’s finest vertical threat TEs.
