Rockets have clear path to beat Celtics and Heat in Giannis trade sweepstakes

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been at the forefront of trade rumours for months, but with the NBA Draft approaching on June 23rd, talk of a trade is growing louder and louder. The Rockets have long been connected to the two-time MVP, but how does their potential trade package compare to the Celtics and Heat, the main teams connected to Antetokounmpo?

Does Houston have the best offer if Rafael Stone finally decides to push all-in?

What is the Rockets’ package?

The Houston Rockets can possibly make the most competitive offer to the Bucks for Antetokounmpo’s services. Amen Thompson should be off the table. He has true superstar upside and has gotten significantly better each season.

With that in mind, if the Rockets are serious about beating every other offer, the package likely has to start with 23-year-old center Alperen Sengun. The Turkish center has made back-to-back All-Star games and over the last three seasons has averaged 20.1 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 5.4 assists.

Houston could also include Jabari Smith Jr. in the trade. The 2022 third overall pick has not quite lived up to his draft pedigree, but he is still just 23 years old and has proven to be, at the very least, a high-end role player with the potential for more.

Finally, the Rockets have control of draft picks from Brooklyn, Phoenix, and Dallas over the next few years. Packaging some of those potentially premium picks could be extremely enticing to a Milwaukee organization that does not have control of its first-round pick until 2031.

Is Houston’s potential package better than Miami or Boston?

The draft picks that Houston could trade are without a doubt more favourable than anything Boston or Miami could offer. Additionally, Miami is reportedly offering a package around Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez, and Tyler Herro. All of those players are real NBA contributors, but none are as proven as Alperen Sengun. Sengun is also younger than both Herro and Jaquez.

Boston is reportedly building an offer around Jaylen Brown, who is coming off the best season of his career. Brown was named Second-Team All-NBA and looked like one of the best players in the league. Brown is a great player, but he is also earning $20-$25 million more than Sengun over the next three seasons and is six years older.

Miami and Boston can put together extremely alluring packages, but if Houston is willing to go all-in for a Giannis trade, then it is hard to see the Bucks valuing other packages more than Houston’s combination of Alperen Sengun and premium draft picks. The only question left: is Houston willing to go all-in?

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