The Houston Rockets' rebuild is now complete, with the organization now firmly in contention for its first title since 1995.
The Rockets suffered a premature exit in the opening round of the playoffs last year, but a second-place finish in the Western Conference during the regular season — and a collection of emerging stars like Alperen Şengün, Amen Thompson and Tari Eason — signals that they could be a force to reckon with in the years to come.
Trading for Kevin Durant has made an already strong roster even stronger ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, but one NBA writer believes the Rockets can take things a step further by striking a second offseason deal with the Phoenix Suns — this time, for four-time All-Star Devin Booker.
Trading for Booker could turn the Rockets into an even fiercer championship contender, but at a cost
A report from The Athletic's Kelly Iko and Sam Amick in May claimed that the Rockets were not interested in trading for Booker, but Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley speculates that they might be.
He proposed that the Rockets would have to part ways with a combination of young talent (Eason and Reed Sheppard), veteran experience (Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams) and a future asset (a 2027 first-round pick) in exchange for Booker's services.
"Booker still looks like a hand-in-glove fit for Houston. He can share the floor with Durant and is a better timeline fit for the young core. And the Rockets are so stacked with assets, they could conceivably get Booker without decimating their collection. It'd be a pricey pickup, sure, but they'd still push forward with both Amen Thompson and Alperen Şengün," Buckley wrote.
"Phoenix, meanwhile, would ditch this idea of readjusting on the fly around Booker and instead get fully focused on its future. Sheppard, last year's No. 3 pick, would be a pivotal piece of that plan, as would the versatile Eason (who could be swapped out for Jeff Green if Phoenix preferred more picks instead)."
Booker remains the focal point of the Suns' offense, as he averaged 20-plus points per game (25.8, to be exact) for the ninth consecutive season. The Arizona-based franchise, however, seems geared for a rebuild of its own, and dealing Booker may help it fully commit to that transition.