Grading (another) trade proposal that has Rockets landing Giannis Antetokounmpo

The Houston Rockets may not have an "untouchable" player.

Some fans will protest that claim. They'll say Alperen Sengun is untouchable. He wouldn't be easily acquired, but the Rockets may part with the budding star for the right price.

If anything, they may be most apprehensive about trading Amen Thompson. His singular athleticism gives him a tantalizing ceiling. Thompson also personifies the defensive intensity that this Rockets team is defining itself by.

Bleacher Report has them sending him out in a fresh trade proposal anyway.

Rockets trade Thompson in blockbuster proposal

That said, they aren't giving him away. The proposal has the Rockets trading Thompson for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo will be exorbently expensive. Any opposition to this deal can't involve the raw market price. The Bucks will get at least this much for Antetokounmpo.

Instead, the issues with this idea start with Thompson. While he's a questionable fit next to Antetokounmpo, the Rockets would surely rather surround the two elite defenders with shooting than part with Thompson. Nobody knows whether the Rockets are really interested in paying what it will cost to acquire Antetokounmpo:

But if they were, they'd rather a different deal than this one for multiple reasons.

Rockets must be smart in Antetokounmpo pursuit

Firstly, they'd want to keep Fred VanVleet on board if they were acquiring Antetokounmpo.

Bringing in "the Greek Freak" means that Houston is officially entering the title race. VanVleet is a win-now player. The Rockets can't afford to take any steps backward in roster quality while simultaneously leaping to acquire Antetokounmpo. The trade needs to mortgage the future singularly.

Yet, Thompson is the wrong part of the future to mortgage. So by that logic, the deal has to include one of Sengun or Jalen Green. That's the only way to make the deal viable financially while also sending the Bucks a potential cornerstone.

Most Rockets fans would prefer to send Green, but that's not a foolproof plan either. It's a question of fit vs quality. Can Sengun, Antetokounmpo, and Thompson co-exist? That's a drastic lack of shooting in your frontcourt. Alternatively, can Green elevate his game to co-star with Thompson and Antetokounmpo?

There are many moving pieces and difficult questions to ask here. What's clear is that Houston should offer either Sengun, some combination of Cam Whitmore, Jabari Smith Jr., and Reed Sheppar,d and some draft capital, or replace Sengun with Green and add more draft capital. They can't afford to move VanVleet:

And Thompson is the closest they've got to an untouchable player.

Grade: C+