Rockets trade idea lands former Sixth Man of the Year runner-up to replace Fred VanVleet

Charlie Baduini

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Rockets trade idea lands former Sixth Man of the Year runner-up to replace Fred VanVleet image

The Houston Rockets are expected to be a Western Conference contender this season, after securing the conference's No. 2 seed last season.

They made a flurry of moves this offseason, such as trading for Kevin Durant and signing Dorian Finney-Smith and Clint Capela.

But they suffered a tough blow just before training camp, losing veteran point guard Fred VanVleet to an ACL tear, and while Houston has some depth at guard, they don't have a player who can replicate VanVleet's scoring output currently on the roster.

Rockets trade idea lands Malik Monk from Kings

In a trade idea proposed by Athlon Sports' Nathaniel Holloway, the Rockets would ship Finney-Smith, Capela, and draft capital to the Sacramento Kings for guard Malik Monk.

"By making this trade, the Rockets would add another great scoring guard to their roster and Monk has also improved his playmaking skills that could come up huge for Houston with VanVleet sidelined," wrote Holloway.

"Last season, the 27-year-old guard averaged 17.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game while shooting 43.9% from the field and 32.5% from three."

The former Sixth Man of the Year runner-up would be a quality addition to a Rockets team looking for more offense. While Monk doesn't play point guard like VanVleet, the former Kentucky star's volume scoring would help tremendously for a defense-first team like Houston.

While they would be sacrificing valuable depth by shipping out Finney-Smith and Capela, it's a sacrifice the Rockets must make if they want to compete in a loaded Western Conference in 2025-26.

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Charlie Baduini

Charlie Baduini is a freelance NBA writer with The Sporting News. He is a content editor and writer with a wide variety of sports reporting experience in live broadcasting and print media.