June 26, 2024 • 8 mins
Ben DuBose, editor of The Rockets Wire, joins Next Up to break down the overnight trade between the Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets.
The Rockets receive:
The Rockets receive:
- In 2025, the rights to swap either their own first round pick or Oklahoma City’s first round pick in exchange for Phoenix’s first round pick.
- Phoenix’s first round pick in 2027.
- In 2029, the rights to the more favorable of either Dallas’ or Phoenix’s first round pick in addition to the right to swap their own first round pick for the less favorable of either Dallas’ or Phoenix’s first round pick.
- In 2025, the right to swap either their first round pick or Oklahoma City’s first round pick in exchange for Brooklyn’s first round pick.
- Brooklyn’s first round pick in 2026.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
For all things Rockets. Let's goto our Rockets insider one, Ben Dubo's
here at seven ninety. We leanon his expertise, amongst others here at
the station. He's also editor ofUSA Today is the Rocket. Why Ben
Dubos, Good morning, Hope youare well arrested. We're about to work
here ass today. Ben. Yeah, well, I already got worked pretty
(00:21):
good last night, so run itdown here so we'll make it. That's
what the draft is about, allright. The first, the first domino
that I saw was the deal forBrooklyn sending Michel Bridges to the Knicks.
He renites with his Villanova brethren,and then the Nets get back some picks,
all right. Then right behind that, kaboom, Rockets do a trade.
(00:43):
And I'm not going to ask youto parse through all of that,
just because our listeners get kind ofconfused when they can't see it. It's
radio vers TV. I understand.However, what is the important thing to
note in the deal that the Rocketsand Nets did last night? The important
things are quantity of picks, andthey're further out in the future, the
bottom line, and the Nets tradeis the latest example of this. The
(01:07):
Nets moving Bridges to the Knicks.It's more about the overall quantity of picks
that stretch out into the future thanthe short term quality because the Knicks are
set up really well. You lookat the core the Knicks have now,
between Jalen Brunson, McHale Bridges,Josh har Julius randall the guys from that
team that went pretty deep into theplayoffs this spring. Their outlook is good,
(01:30):
and yet the Nets were more thanhappy to take four future first round
picks from the Knicks. Because outlookscan change so quickly. We saw that
with the picks from the Nets thatthe Rockets got in the original James Harden's
trade there right thought would be bad. Now all of a sudden, they're
picking number three to Nights, Sothese situations change. So for the Rockets,
(01:51):
when they had an opportunity to swaptwo assets for four, which is
something they were able to do becausethose picks are important to the Nets.
They talked about that before. Theyhave an incentive to get back control of
their assets so that if they're badthe next couple of years, which they
will be without Mikhail Bridges, thenthey can reap the rewards of that into
twenty twenty five to twenty twenty sixstraft lotteries. Then the Rockets have more
(02:12):
trade optionality down the line because insteadof having two assets, they've got four.
And so that's what you're seeing timeafter time in the NBA, these
big names get traded for big pickpackages of swamps and direct unprotected pick conveyances.
That's what the Rockets did with thisdeal. It's a long term bet.
The Rockets were never going to bein the Cooper flag business themselves or
(02:35):
trying to develop any top prospect intwenty twenty five or twenty twenty six.
It was always going to be aboutthe optionality of trading those picks for bigger
names down the line, and theyjust think that four gives them better odds
than to Okay, Ben connect thedots here, and I thought it was
very funny when I saw some peoplesaying Rockets are going big game hunting.
I was like, man, thelegend of Daryl Moury lives on through a
(02:57):
fellstone when it comes to we're goingbig game hunting. What connect the dots
here? How does this help theRockets and acquire and if they wanted to
Kevin Durant or just some of thename, big names that have been thrown
out there. Is this just simplylike you said, more future assets they
could put in a hall. Yes, and they are the assets mostly of
(03:17):
the Phoenix Suns. There's one fromDallas, but three before they got are
from Phoenix. And I think theRockets would love to have the fallback plan
of going after Devin Booker in ayear or two. Now, let's be
clear, Plan A for the Rocketsis that the current young core works out
and Jalen Green and or all Perandsh and Goon, those guys take the
next step. They are your starsmoving forward. They are your alphas.
(03:40):
And if that's the case, theteam's going to get way more expensive.
These guys are going to play theirway into much richer contracts. And so
you use these future picks to sortof give you role players on the chief.
That's Plan A. If that doesn'twork out, then you need to
be able to swing a trade downthe line. And what we saw in
the Bridges deal is that when youcontrol the picks of another team, they
(04:02):
are disproportionately valuable to that team.The thing is, in this case,
the Rockets could have easily traded forMcHale Bridges themselves. The biggest incentive for
the Nets was getting their own picksback. The two trades were connected.
It's just for the Rockets, andwe've talked about this before. Mkale Bridges
did not move the needle enough.Conversely, with the Suns, Devin Booker
(04:23):
would move the needle enough. You'retalking about a top ten player, a
borderline MVP candidate at times. Soif in a year or two, the
current young core isn't developing to theextent you want them to, and the
Sons are probably going to age outbecause Devin Booker's co star is Kevin Durant,
who's going to be thirty six yearsold, then this gives the Rockets
the option to pursue Devin Booker.And if and when Booker wants out or
(04:46):
the Sons want to rebuild, theyhave more incidive to deal with the Rockets
because now the Rockets have their picks. Yeah, keep the good news coming.
Ben du Bowles analysts for seven ninetyto hear What Else What the Rocket
as well as you hear him onthe podcast for the Logging Line, editor
of USA Today's The Rocket Wire,dropping my hit. Next up with Stan
Fleet Gordon, all right, Iwant to talk free agency so bad,
(05:10):
but it's the draft to night,round one. So I thought, coming
into when I went to bed lastnight, roth Helstone had three options.
Use the picks that he already hasfrom the nets to go get Superstar staying
pad. At three, you takeread Shepherd or whom or Clinging trade out
of three and you get you know, the ninth overall pick, whoever that
(05:33):
is Dalton connect and you get MarcusSmart all right, and you basically run
it back with some roll dudes.All Right, they've already, in my
mind, they've already told us we'veaccumulated already enough assets. We don't need
any more assets. We got aton of future trade pieces. What do
(05:53):
you think ultimately happens at three tonight? It's hard to say inclusively, because
the Rockets just showed you that ifthey think there's better value, they're not
afraid to make a big deal.So I wouldn't say a trade is off
the table, but I agree withyour general thinking. I would think that
it makes it less likely just becauseyou already got that greater quantity, So
(06:15):
I think that makes it easier tothink quality in this draft. I still
Lean Reach Shepherd. There's enough noiseabout Tonzan Klingon that I'm curious, But
I just think that some of thatcould be for trade purposes, i e.
The Rockets need to leak that they'renot locked on one guy, because
if they leaked they're locked on oneguy, then a team that hypothetically wants
to trade up for Clingon can say, you know what, I don't need
(06:38):
to make a peak offer to theRockets for pick three. I can just
wait until pick four or pick five. So the Rockets don't need to have
it out there that they're locked inon one guy if they want to maximize
their opportunities with this pick. However, if it's close, and most of
the reporting says that it's close betweencling And and Reach Shepherd in terms of
how the Rockets view those prospects,then I just think that Shepherd has a
(07:00):
little more utility. He fits inmore roster constructs as opposed to, you
know, cleaning. The obvious questionas well, what's going to happen with
all branch Good and Steven Adams ifyou bring in a third player who's the
center only? So I agree withyou in theory, they shouldn't need a
greater quantity of picks. In termsof trading down for more assets, you
can go best player available. Andwhile nothing would surprise me at this point,
(07:23):
I do think that Reach Shepherd's alittle more likely because he fits in
more configurations. Real quick, Ben, if a current Houston Rocket, one
of the guys on the roster istraded tonight, who would it most likely
be? If you were setting odds, that is, that's a really good
question. I would say Dylan Brookssimply because he's the biggest, Well,
(07:46):
Dylan Brooks among established players. Now, there's some expiring contracts Jay Chante,
Jack Landiel, Jeff Green, butI barely count those because those are marginal
players amongst the existing core. Iwould say Dylan Brooks because that's a salary
of significance and it's a spot youcould conceivably upgrade without too much difficulty.
(08:07):
So I don't expect it to happen. But if there was something involving the
core in terms of the big ninethat are you're playing rotation right now,
I think Dylan's the most likely,all right, that is, Ben Dubos,
He's an analyst for us here atseven ninety on all things rockets you
see and readers work there for therockets why courtesy of USA Today and we
certainly hear him on the logger Linepod follow Ben Dubo's Won't You especially today
(08:31):
at b E N d U bO s E. Ben. I know
you'll be dropping by our draft showlater on at George H. Brown.
Look forward to seeing you there.About him sounds good seeing a little bit.
All right, y'all be well,
For all things Rockets. Let's goto our Rockets insider one, Ben Dubo's
here at seven ninety. We leanon his expertise, amongst others here at
the station. He's also editor ofUSA Today is the Rocket. Why Ben
Dubos, Good morning, Hope youare well arrested. We're about to work
here ass today. Ben. Yeah, well, I already got worked pretty
(00:21):
good last night, so run itdown here so we'll make it. That's
what the draft is about, allright. The first, the first domino
that I saw was the deal forBrooklyn sending Michel Bridges to the Knicks.
He renites with his Villanova brethren,and then the Nets get back some picks,
all right. Then right behind that, kaboom, Rockets do a trade.
(00:43):
And I'm not going to ask youto parse through all of that,
just because our listeners get kind ofconfused when they can't see it. It's
radio vers TV. I understand.However, what is the important thing to
note in the deal that the Rocketsand Nets did last night? The important
things are quantity of picks, andthey're further out in the future, the
bottom line, and the Nets tradeis the latest example of this. The
(01:07):
Nets moving Bridges to the Knicks.It's more about the overall quantity of picks
that stretch out into the future thanthe short term quality because the Knicks are
set up really well. You lookat the core the Knicks have now,
between Jalen Brunson, McHale Bridges,Josh har Julius randall the guys from that
team that went pretty deep into theplayoffs this spring. Their outlook is good,
(01:30):
and yet the Nets were more thanhappy to take four future first round
picks from the Knicks. Because outlookscan change so quickly. We saw that
with the picks from the Nets thatthe Rockets got in the original James Harden's
trade there right thought would be bad. Now all of a sudden, they're
picking number three to Nights, Sothese situations change. So for the Rockets,
(01:51):
when they had an opportunity to swaptwo assets for four, which is
something they were able to do becausethose picks are important to the Nets.
They talked about that before. Theyhave an incentive to get back control of
their assets so that if they're badthe next couple of years, which they
will be without Mikhail Bridges, thenthey can reap the rewards of that into
twenty twenty five to twenty twenty sixstraft lotteries. Then the Rockets have more
(02:12):
trade optionality down the line because insteadof having two assets, they've got four.
And so that's what you're seeing timeafter time in the NBA, these
big names get traded for big pickpackages of swamps and direct unprotected pick conveyances.
That's what the Rockets did with thisdeal. It's a long term bet.
The Rockets were never going to bein the Cooper flag business themselves or
(02:35):
trying to develop any top prospect intwenty twenty five or twenty twenty six.
It was always going to be aboutthe optionality of trading those picks for bigger
names down the line, and theyjust think that four gives them better odds
than to Okay, Ben connect thedots here, and I thought it was
very funny when I saw some peoplesaying Rockets are going big game hunting.
I was like, man, thelegend of Daryl Moury lives on through a
(02:57):
fellstone when it comes to we're goingbig game hunting. What connect the dots
here? How does this help theRockets and acquire and if they wanted to
Kevin Durant or just some of thename, big names that have been thrown
out there. Is this just simplylike you said, more future assets they
could put in a hall. Yes, and they are the assets mostly of
(03:17):
the Phoenix Suns. There's one fromDallas, but three before they got are
from Phoenix. And I think theRockets would love to have the fallback plan
of going after Devin Booker in ayear or two. Now, let's be
clear, Plan A for the Rocketsis that the current young core works out
and Jalen Green and or all Perandsh and Goon, those guys take the
next step. They are your starsmoving forward. They are your alphas.
(03:40):
And if that's the case, theteam's going to get way more expensive.
These guys are going to play theirway into much richer contracts. And so
you use these future picks to sortof give you role players on the chief.
That's Plan A. If that doesn'twork out, then you need to
be able to swing a trade downthe line. And what we saw in
the Bridges deal is that when youcontrol the picks of another team, they
(04:02):
are disproportionately valuable to that team.The thing is, in this case,
the Rockets could have easily traded forMcHale Bridges themselves. The biggest incentive for
the Nets was getting their own picksback. The two trades were connected.
It's just for the Rockets, andwe've talked about this before. Mkale Bridges
did not move the needle enough.Conversely, with the Suns, Devin Booker
(04:23):
would move the needle enough. You'retalking about a top ten player, a
borderline MVP candidate at times. Soif in a year or two, the
current young core isn't developing to theextent you want them to, and the
Sons are probably going to age outbecause Devin Booker's co star is Kevin Durant,
who's going to be thirty six yearsold, then this gives the Rockets
the option to pursue Devin Booker.And if and when Booker wants out or
(04:46):
the Sons want to rebuild, theyhave more incidive to deal with the Rockets
because now the Rockets have their picks. Yeah, keep the good news coming.
Ben du Bowles analysts for seven ninetyto hear What Else What the Rocket
as well as you hear him onthe podcast for the Logging Line, editor
of USA Today's The Rocket Wire,dropping my hit. Next up with Stan
Fleet Gordon, all right, Iwant to talk free agency so bad,
(05:10):
but it's the draft to night,round one. So I thought, coming
into when I went to bed lastnight, roth Helstone had three options.
Use the picks that he already hasfrom the nets to go get Superstar staying
pad. At three, you takeread Shepherd or whom or Clinging trade out
of three and you get you know, the ninth overall pick, whoever that
(05:33):
is Dalton connect and you get MarcusSmart all right, and you basically run
it back with some roll dudes.All Right, they've already, in my
mind, they've already told us we'veaccumulated already enough assets. We don't need
any more assets. We got aton of future trade pieces. What do
(05:53):
you think ultimately happens at three tonight? It's hard to say inclusively, because
the Rockets just showed you that ifthey think there's better value, they're not
afraid to make a big deal.So I wouldn't say a trade is off
the table, but I agree withyour general thinking. I would think that
it makes it less likely just becauseyou already got that greater quantity, So
(06:15):
I think that makes it easier tothink quality in this draft. I still
Lean Reach Shepherd. There's enough noiseabout Tonzan Klingon that I'm curious, But
I just think that some of thatcould be for trade purposes, i e.
The Rockets need to leak that they'renot locked on one guy, because
if they leaked they're locked on oneguy, then a team that hypothetically wants
to trade up for Clingon can say, you know what, I don't need
(06:38):
to make a peak offer to theRockets for pick three. I can just
wait until pick four or pick five. So the Rockets don't need to have
it out there that they're locked inon one guy if they want to maximize
their opportunities with this pick. However, if it's close, and most of
the reporting says that it's close betweencling And and Reach Shepherd in terms of
how the Rockets view those prospects,then I just think that Shepherd has a
(07:00):
little more utility. He fits inmore roster constructs as opposed to, you
know, cleaning. The obvious questionas well, what's going to happen with
all branch Good and Steven Adams ifyou bring in a third player who's the
center only? So I agree withyou in theory, they shouldn't need a
greater quantity of picks. In termsof trading down for more assets, you
can go best player available. Andwhile nothing would surprise me at this point,
(07:23):
I do think that Reach Shepherd's alittle more likely because he fits in
more configurations. Real quick, Ben, if a current Houston Rocket, one
of the guys on the roster istraded tonight, who would it most likely
be? If you were setting odds, that is, that's a really good
question. I would say Dylan Brookssimply because he's the biggest, Well,
(07:46):
Dylan Brooks among established players. Now, there's some expiring contracts Jay Chante,
Jack Landiel, Jeff Green, butI barely count those because those are marginal
players amongst the existing core. Iwould say Dylan Brooks because that's a salary
of significance and it's a spot youcould conceivably upgrade without too much difficulty.
(08:07):
So I don't expect it to happen. But if there was something involving the
core in terms of the big ninethat are you're playing rotation right now,
I think Dylan's the most likely,all right, that is, Ben Dubos,
He's an analyst for us here atseven ninety on all things rockets you
see and readers work there for therockets why courtesy of USA Today and we
certainly hear him on the logger Linepod follow Ben Dubo's Won't You especially today
(08:31):
at b E N d U bO s E. Ben. I know
you'll be dropping by our draft showlater on at George H. Brown.
Look forward to seeing you there.About him sounds good seeing a little bit.
All right, y'all be well,
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