Why The Houston Rockets Do The Deal

Inversely, the Houston Rockets have no shot at competing for a championship in 2022-23. With that in mind, they should be prioritizing draft capital above all else.

With that said, the Rockets could value both Horton-Tucker and Nunn. The former has failed to make a star leap throughout his career to date, but at 21, he still holds potential.

Meanwhile, Nunn could bring some stability to the Rockets’ otherwise-shakey point guard position. Granted, that sounds like a win-now consideration, but the organization could be enticed to have some of their younger players get accustomed to playing with a solid veteran.

Alternatively, a strong performance from either Nunn or Johnson could put the Rockets in a position to trade them later in the season.

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In other words, they’d be flipping Westbrook for Horton-Tucker, a first-round pick, and two half-season rentals. In 2022, there’s nothing out of the ordinary about that.