Recent NBA trade is a mixed blessing for the Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets must be happy with their place in the NBA. So they should be - but they can't get complacent. The league's landscape is always changing.

Everyone is always jockeying for a more powerful position. A trade that feels inconsequential now can have a tremendous ripple effect. One of those trades may have just occurred.

The Suns and the Jazz just made a swap. In essence, the Suns flipped their unprotected 2031 first-round pick for three protected, less valuable swaps from the Jazz.

How does it impact the Rockets?

Rockets keeping an eye on Suns

Firstly, this was a logical deal for both parties.

The Suns have a pick deficit. Flipping one good pick for three mediocre picks makes sense for them. This deal will make it easier for them to upgrade. The Suns are now more flexible to make roster moves that make them better right now. Some have speculated that this move was made with Jimmy Butler in mind.

By contrast, the Jazz have lots of picks. Consolidating some of them for a juicier pick was smart.

On a surface level, this is bad for the Rockets. Both of these teams in the Western Conference, and anything that's good for a Western Conference team is bad for the Rockets.

On a deeper level, anything the Suns do is consequential for Houston. Rockets fans dreaming of a lottery pick this summer may want to pinch themselves if Phoenix brings Butler into the fold.

Should Rockets fans be upset?

Rockets could benefit from blockbuster trade - eventually

Let's be honest - the Suns were never sending the Rockets Cooper Flagg. The odds of this pick landing inside the top-10 are exceedingly thin.

The likely consequence of this deal for the Rockets this summer is that they'll have to settle for, say, Nique Clifford instead of Liam McNeely. That's fine. At that stage of the draft, randomness takes hold. The difference between the 12th pick and the 18th pick often comes down to the drafter before it comes down to the draftee.

In the long run, this deal could help the Rockets.

The Suns are taking their last stand. If we work with the operating assumption that they plan on moving the picks they just landed, they'll be left with no assets after. If we assume they're landing Butler, they'll be left with one of the league's oldest rosters in addition to that lack of assets. In other words, they'll have virtually no future.

The Rockets control their future. Owning upcoming picks from a team in the position the Suns seem likely to put themselves in is a blessing, even if it costs Houston a more premium prospect this summer.

They should be happy with their league-wide position no matter how this shakes out.