Rockets may have the hidden key to the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes

There's been much debate over whether the Houston Rockets should acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo. If the price is right, they can't refuse a deal.

Perhaps that's too axiomatic. The phrase used to be "no duh". It may be obvious, but it's pertinent to the situation right now.

If the rumors are true, Antetokounmpo may be cheaper than we once thought.

Rockets could exploit buyer's market

According to The Hoops Collective's Brian Windhorst, teams around the league right now are trepidatious about giving up a surplus of first-round draft capital "for anybody".

The NBA trade market is a living, breathing organism. It learns. It evolves. Most teams that have sent out four or five unprotected first-round picks for a single player have lived to regret it.

So, the Bucks may be disappointed with their return. The most prominent rumors have Antetokounmpo heading to the Knicks. As a product of the Stepien rule, they don't have an unprotected first-round pick they can legally trade right now - period. The offer would have to be built around pick swaps, and with the Bucks light on future firsts, even that gets difficult. The Knicks can't offer the Bucks anything resembling market value for Antetokounmpo:

So, if that's the offer to beat...

Rockets would have to consider a discounted MVP candidate

Darryl Morey, one of the best general managers in Rockets history, is credited as having said, "Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor".

(The quote is actually from a musical, but Morey is sometimes credited with having said it.)

If Antetokounmpo is available, and the current market is cool, the Rockets should strike.

That doesn't mean giving up the farm - the whole point here is that the farm isn't the cost. Say the Knicks have a standing offer of contracts (they don't have a particularly impressive young player either) and four pick swaps.

Surely the Rockets could beat that offer and call with contracts, Tari Eason, and a pair of unprotected firsts?

Granted, that move would be fraught with obstacles. Almost nobody the Rockets could trade is eligible to be moved until December 15, so Antetokounmpo needs to be a Buck for one more week. The Rockets would invariably have to include Fred VanVleet, who'd have to concede his implicit no-trade clause.

Moreover, this is likely the stuff of fantasy. If the Rockets made that offer, somebody would likely beat it - again, the trade market is constantly evolving.

That's fine. This isn't to say the Rockets must acquire Antetokounmpo. The point is, if his market is particularly cold, the Rockets should at least inquire. If there's a way to acquire an in-prime MVP candidate below his market value, the Rockets need to make it happen.

There shouldn't be much debate about that.