Rockets: Why trading Danuel House isn’t the right move

2. The return won’t be good enough for the Houston Rockets

Prior to joining the Houston Rockets, Danuel House had bounced around the league, as he had stints with the Washington Wizards, Phoenix Suns, and Golden State Warriors.

House has found his niche in Houston, becoming a utility player for the Rockets and one of the better two-way players on the team. At 6-foot-7, House possesses the size to make a presence defensively and he’s made 37.6 percent of his threes since joining the Rockets in 2018.

Although House isn’t exactly a facilitator, he’s a good enough ball-handler for a Rockets second-unit that lacks that specific skillset, and he’s currently in the midst of a career year from an assists standpoint. House has oftentimes provided a necessary spark offensively, and his 3-point shooting clip of 41.6 percent in 2018-19 led the team, while he finished second in the same category last season.

All in all, House has been valuable for the Rockets and we often hear about how a team’s role players make all the difference in postseason play, when opposing teams key in on the star players. But with that being said, what exactly would the Rockets get back in a trade?

Rockets general manager Rafael Stone has made it a priority to replenish the cupboard of draft picks this season, and the James Harden trade helped address that, as the Rockets netted four first-round draft picks (in addition to four pick swaps). So the Rockets aren’t exactly in dire need to add more picks, and even if they were, what type of pick would they get back for House?

The Rockets obviously wouldn’t get a lottery pick for House, and at 27-years-old, his skillset is too valuable for the Rockets in particular to just ship him away. And after his “mishap” in the bubble (as he’s famously coined it), followed by a lengthy absence this season, in which he resurfaced as a rapper, it would be fair for opposing general managers to question his commitment to basketball.

In that case, the Rockets could find themselves getting a second-round draft pick in return for House at best, and considering the value of his role to the Rockets specifically, he’s worth more than that return.

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