Ranking 3 recently suggested Rockets summer blockbuster trade targets

The Houston Rockets will never escape the blockbuster trade rumors.

It's not going to happen. As long as the Rockets have one of the best collections of assets in the league, folks will expect them to make a massive deal. The only exception would be if they won an NBA title with their current core.

Bleacher Report is leading the speculation this time. They just published an article naming three potential trade targets for the Rockets this summer. Each one is a star player.

Let's rank them in order of desirability.

3. Ja Morant

Morant is having a down year. He's averaging 20.8 points and 7.4 assists per game.

Those aren't the numbers that Rockets fans should be concerned about. Morant is likely to bounce back. By contrast, he's shooting 29.7% from long-range:

That's not far off his career mark.

Specifically, he's shooting 31.5% for his career. That's problematic in a vacuum. Morant is a small guard who can't shoot. That's a difficult archetype to build a championship team around.

It's an even larger issue in context. Shooting is the Rockets' biggest challenge as is. Adding Morant would do nothing to help. He's a questionable fit alongside whoever they keep in the deal. Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Jalen Green would all be better served playing alongside a floor spacer.

Throw in Morant's injury (and frankly, suspension) problems, and he's not worth the headache. Luckily, he's unlikely to be available anyway. Still, if someone in Memphis' brass catches the Nico Harrison bug, the Rockets should not indulge them.

2. Devin Booker

Booker is a better fit with this roster than Morant. That's not to say he's an optimal fit.

Booker is shooting 34.4% from long-range this year. That's lower than Jalen Green's 35.9%, who Booker would presumably replace. That feels like a problem.

Sure, Booker is a better all-around player. Should the Rockets be confident that that will remain true? With a five-year age gap between the duo, it feels more sensible to keep the assets it would require to land Booker in exchange for Green.

A lot of fans expect the Rockets to target one of the Suns' stars. Spoiler alert: Bleacher Report didn't list Kevin Durant in their piece, so I won't touch on him here. As for Booker, for as talented as he is, he's not a franchise-caliber guy. The Rockets may be wise to hang onto what they have instead of acquiring a non-MVP candidate at an exorbitant cost.

1. Zion Williamson

Sure, Williamson shares Morant's spacing concerns. He's hitting 25.0% of his meager 0.6 three-point attempts per game this year. Williamson is effectively a non-shooter. Why make an exception?

Well, Williamson is a franchise-caliber player.

His 5.5 Box Plus/Minus (BPM) towers over Morant (1.2) and Booker (1.1) in 2024-25. Williamson is averaging 24.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists in just 28.2 minutes per game this year.

He's not a perfect candidate - frankly, I may opt against acquiring any of these players. Williamson's durability is a tremendous concern. Still, rolling the dice on him - at the right price - should be more attractive than going after Morant or Booker.

Moreover, it helps them finally end the blockbuster trade speculation.