Good Landing Spot: Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are in the infancy stages of a rebuild. Many would argue that at this point, investing so much in a player whose superstardom is anything less than guaranteed would be a misallocation of resources.
There’s legitimacy in that position. On the other hand, acquiring top-end talent is pretty good practice as well. The acquisition of Deandre Ayton would signify to prospective free agents and disgruntled stars that the Rockets don’t intend to populate the league’s bottom tier for long.
Plus, there’s another benefit in the Rockets landing Ayton: he’s really good. This team had the second-worst Defensive Rating in the NBA last season. Ayton’s versatility on that end of the floor would pay dividends for this team. At 23, he’s still young enough to be part of this team’s future.
Some Rockets fans will inevitably protest that they’ve already got their center of the future. Soon-to-be sophomore Alperen Sengun flashed considerably potential in his rookie season, but he’s flawed. It’s unclear whether he’ll ever be able to make positive contributions on the defensive end of the floor.
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We wouldn’t consider that a serious concern. If Sengun flourishes enough with the Houston Rockets’ second unit, you can trade Ayton later. Alternatively, you can trade Sengun. This Rockets team should be in young talent acquisition mode, and Ayton is young talent.
