Grade the trade: Rockets land shooting, size in mock deal with Pistons

Although Houston Rockets GM Rafael Stone spent a fortune in free agency, not all of the moves have gone as expected. In fact, two of the five free-agent acquisitions have largely been unplayable thus far for Rockets coach Ime Udoka.

Landale has had a recent mini stretch of viable play but he came right back down to Earth shortly thereafter (as expected). And let's not forget about Reggie Bullock, who was essentially the signed to be the Rockets' 3-point aficionado, as he made 38 percent from deep for the Dallas Mavericks last season.

Sure, he's technically shooting over 39 percent from deep but that's on a marginal 1.6 attempts. And he's only playing 9.2 minutes, which wouldn't be the case if he was playing well. Especially for a team in dire need of shooting (25th in 3-point shooting in 2023-24).

ESPN's latest trade proposal could be good for the Rockets.

Help will surely be on the way at the trade deadline, as the Rockets have a long list of trade targets.

ESPN's crew of NBA experts devised a trade that would give the Rockets a defensive presence at the center position, while also solidying the team's shooting.(subscription required) On the following slides, we'll outline the trade and why it makes sense for each party.