Rockets linked to 3 star trade targets , and one is not like the other

Houston Rockets fans are focused on the present.

As they should be. This team is in the mix for home-court advantage in the postseason. The Rockets are ready to win, and they've been doing plenty of it lately.

Still, some outlets will inevitably turn their focus to the offseason. The Rockets are seen as prime candidates to acquire a superstar. It doesn't matter how frequently the front office refutes the speculation. As long as the Rockets have a surplus of assets and an incentive to win, they'll be in trade talks.

Bleacher Report is linking them to some of the biggest names in the league.

Major media outlet names 3 superstar targets for Rockets

Readers won't be surprised to discover that two of those targets are currently on the Suns. The notion that Houston would trade for one of Devin Booker or Kevin Durant is popular. The Rockets own the Suns' upcoming pick, their 2027 first-round pick, and their 2029 selection.

All messaging from the Suns organization indicates that they won't move Booker. Assuming they're being truthful, the Rockets would be choosing between adding a 37-year-old Kevin Durant or hanging onto their assets if dealing with the Suns. Durant would be an intriguing move at the right price, but it seems likely that a stubbornly win-now Phoenix team will put a high value on him.

So, the Suns may or may not be an attractive trade partner. Still, Durant and Booker are only two of the three targets named in this article.

Bleacher Report also circled back to someone who was widely suggested as a future Rocket earlier this year.

Rockets linked to major star

That would be the Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo.

This is a vastly different proposition than Booker or Durant. The former isn't quite a franchise-caliber player. The driving theory behind acquiring Booker is that he's such a perfect fit alongside an already successful Rockets team that he should vault them to contention. The idea behind acquiring Durant is that given his age, and the Rockets' acquisition of the Suns' picks, he should be available at a discount.

Antetokounmpo means blowing up the team. He'll cost two or three of the Rockets' best young players and most of their available draft capital. This is an active MVP candidate.

The price will be exorbitant. It will still be worth considering. There's one school of thought that says that when a player of Antetokounmpo's caliber is available, you take him. There's another that says that when a young core has performed as well as the Rockets' has, you don't break up that core.

More problematically, Antetokounmpo is not an intuitive fit next to Amen Thompson. The Rockets could look to pair them and surround them with pristine spacing, but again, that means blowing up the team. If you haven't noticed, nobody is describing the Rockets' spacing as "pristine".

As always, it depends on several factors. The Rockets should make any decision based on how well their guys perform in the playoffs, and what the Bucks are asking for. It's hard to definitively say that they shouldn't trade for Antetokounmpo, but they should strongly consider staying the course as well.

For now, they should focus on securing homecourt advantage in the playoffs.