Grade the Trade: Rockets land star guard in blockbuster proposal

Constructing a realistic fake trade is easier said than done.

A deal has to work for both sides. At SpaceCityScoop, we try not to let any fake Houston Rockets trades get past us. If you're proposing a deal for the Rockets, guess what?

We're going to grade it.

Often, we've handed out poor grades. We see the Rockets getting fleeced, and we won't stand for it. In this piece, we will give another poor grade: but it's not because the Rockets are getting shortchanged.

The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor just suggested a trade that has the Portland Trail Blazers on the wrong end of the stick.

Houston Rockets fleece Blazers in recent proposal

As always, we'll start by looking at the details.

Simons + 7 + 14 for 3

In fairness to O'Connor, he was spitballing. He ends the proposal by saying "Something like that".

So, we'll try not to be harsh. Still - we don't think it would be "something like that".

There is no precedent for this proposal. The price to move from third to seventh typically isn't a star player. Realistically, if the Rockets wanted to trade down for the seventh pick, they'd receive a lightly protected future first in return.

Alternatively, the third pick and some salary filler may get them close to Simons, but the Rockets shouldn't expect that seventh pick in the package. This is an unrealistic trade, and for once, it's because the Rockets would be receiving too much in return.

O'Connor uses some solid logic here. The suggestion that the Rockets could covet Simons to eventually replace Fred VanVleet is reasonable. Using the third pick to bring SImons on board would be sensible enough as well.

His pricing is simply off. Let's be honest - we'd love this deal. This is a Rockets fanpage. Something tells us that Blazers media will give this deal an even weaker grade.

Grade: C+