Houston Rockets: 3 pros and cons to trading Victor Oladipo

Houston Rockets trading Victor Oladipo Con #2: Rockets can’t resign him

Players’ trade value is directly tied to the number of years that remain on their contract. The theory is the more years the more value a contract has in trade.

While there are merits to this way of thinking, it tends to be overblown. The Lakers traded for Anthony Davis when he had one year left on his deal. The Clippers did the same with Paul George. Both of the Los Angeles franchises had to cough up a king’s ransom to make the deal work.

Having a player under contract is nice but it doesn’t mean all that much in the modern NBA landscape. What teams have routinely banked on is that if they bring a player into their organization they have the upper hand when engaging in extension talks.

The Rockets have been great with Oladipo, and if they’re able to string together a strong regular season followed by a competitive playoff run, then they’d be in pole position to re-sign him. The early noise out of Oladipo’s camp was that he wasn’t interested in extending his stay in Houston, but as the old saying goes, winning cures everything.

If the Rockets trade Oladipo they’ll have essentially given up on keeping him long term. Perhaps they don’t think he fits their timeline but once he’s gone, he’s gone. The chances that the Rockets draft and develop a player as good as Oladipo are slim and keeping him around long term could make them a contender faster than anticipated.

Next: Pro #1