The first superstar to be moved via trade this season was Trae Young, who the Atlanta Hawks got rid of in order to build around Jalen Johnson.
Young was moved for the expiring salary of CJ McCollum, and the Hawks also nabbed Corey Kispert, the 15th pick of the 2021 NBA Draft.
The Hawks received criticism for not fetching a single draft pick in the deal.
The Houston Rockets weren’t interested in Young, despite their need for a table-setting guard.
Nor was any other team, seemingly.
The next superstar will likely be Ja Morant.
Unless you think Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks are headed towards a divorce any time soon. Which is wouldn’t hold my breath for, as they do the same song and dance every year, only for nothing to materialize.
Rinse and repeat.
As it pertains to Morant, the Grizzlies have undergone quite a bit of change and want to build around Jaren Jackson Jr.
Morant has worn out his welcome, seemingly, and doesn’t see eye to eye with Tuomas Iisalo, who replaced Taylor Jenkins.
Morant is available, as Memphis is open to moving him. The Rockets made it known that they aren’t interested in the two-time All-Star.
The days of the Rockets- star-hunt are over.
Kevin Durant is here now.
Yes, the Rockets need a point guard, but Morant is a challenging fit. Or just not a fit at all.
Yahoo Sports writer Morten Stig Jensen explained the challenges of Houston adding Morant.
“There’s a case to be made that the Rockets could be a solid destination for him, especially given the presence of Kevin Durant and their need for a point guard. But in this case, head coach Ime Udoka would have to heavily stagger Morant with Amen Thompson because of the shooting issues, again underlining how difficult Morant is to have on the roster.”
The Rockets rank 37.6 percent of their threes, which ranks fourth in the league.
But they take the second-fewest.
Ja Morant and Amen Thompson in the same lineup hurts spacing.
When you add Alperen Sengun, there’s an even greater void of long-range shooting.
That leaves Kevin Durant and Jabari Smith Jr.
Durant specializes in the mid-range. He can certainly shoot threes (40.3 percent this season) but his preference isn’t to hoist them.
And Smith is very inconsistent. As evidenced by his 0-for-10 3-point performance in Friday night’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
To that point, Smith is 7-of-38 from deep in the Rockets’ last five games.
That’s 18.4 percent.
Yikes.
Yeah, Houston is wise to pass on Morant. There’s also not a realistic path towards adding him without including Fred VanVleet’s salary and VanVleet has final say over such a move.
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