Houston Rockets receive mediocre grade for offseason moves

Sometimes, the best action is inaction.

The Houston Rockets had a (sort-of) quiet offseason. That doesn't mean they had a poor one. There were no superstars on the market to acquire. Holding serve on their current roster was a sensible decision. Adding Reed Sheppard was icing on an already-sweet cake.

Moreover, they made a very consequential move - it just didn't involve any player movement. The deal that sent the Brooklyn Nets their 2025 and 2026 first-round picks back in exchange for a larger volume of draft capital via the Suns could have leaguewide effects.

For Sam Quinn of CBS Sports, it was the wrong decision for the Rockets.

Rockets knocked for major trade

Quinn gave the Rockets an overall grade of C+ for their offseason. He commended their decision to draft Sheppard, but he was critical of the aforementioned Nets deal.

"Where you fall on Houston's offseason is going to depend on what you think of their blockbuster, player-less trade with the Nets."

- Sam Quinn, CBS Sports

Strongly agreed. Quinn goes on to highlight some of the nuances involved in the deal. He discusses the reporting that the Nets would have been unwilling to trade Mikal Bridges if they hadn't received their own picks back. For some, that was instrumental in justifying this trade from Houston's point of view.

Not for Quinn.

"I am not questioning the reporting here. I think the Nets told the world that they weren't trading Bridges without getting their own picks back. What I question is their resolve."

- Sam Quinn, CBS Sports

Let's be clear - this is not a hit piece. Quinn is not being unreasonable. He's making the case that Houston should have played chicken with the Nets instead of flinching, and optimized their odds of landing a top pick in a strong class.

Frankly, we're not sure if we agree with him or not.

Rockets made a bold move

As with most NBA transactions, this comes down to a risk/reward analysis.

The 2025 draft is stacked. The best world that the Rockets could have lived in would be a world where the Nets moved Bridges, and the Rockets kept their pick. They'd have had a chance to land Cooper Flagg.

When he made this deal, Rafael Stone destroyed that world.

Conversely, the worst world is one where the Nets keep Bridges and win 35-to-40 games. The Rockets land the 14rh pick, and now, they're lucky to grab a rotation player.

In the world that we currently occupy, the Rockets flipped two picks of relatively unknown value for four draft assets of (again) relatively unknown value. As Quinn himself is quick to acknowledge, that's good value on paper.

Yet, it is disappointing to have given up on Flagg, or one of the other potential stars in his class. I think it would be too harsh to say that Stone made a bad deal, but it's fair to say that he made a questionable one.

So, we'd nitpick Quinn. The Rockets deserve something closer to a B or a B- for their offseason. That C just looks jarring, even if Quinn's assessment is reasonably fair.

In the end, time will tell whether Stone took the right action.