After three years of reconstruction, the Houston Rockets clearly appears to be heading in the right direction as they appear to return to rivalry for the NBA title.
In keeping with proprietor Tilman Fertitta, Houston’s success may have impressed Brooklyn to do the identical. In flip, this will have greased the wheels for single venture asset buying and selling between the Rockets and Nets in June 2024.
At Tuesday’s press convention for the opening of Houston’s new coaching middle and coaching middleFertitta had this to say when requested about rebuilding Houston to start out the 2020s:
I believe we’re 100% heading in the right direction. I believe every of our actions was the fitting one, and three years later, that is all we will anticipate when [you] determine to tear it down and rebuild it.
Should you discover, there was one other workforce that determined to take a look at us and that is what they needed to do. They traded us two first spherical picks and two trades simply to get again a commerce and a primary rounder…which was one other nice commerce.
Fertitta did not point out Brooklyn by title — typically talking, NBA executives attempt to keep away from mentioning different groups and gamers in a transactional sense — however the reference was extraordinarily clear, and particularly after citing the latest alternate.
Time will inform, in fact, how this nuanced June 2024 transaction ages for each events. Clearly, a lot of Houston’s motivation includes betting towards the Phoenix Sunsand their play throughout the upcoming 2024-25 season and past will dictate the success of this wager.
Nonetheless, Fertitta made an attention-grabbing level in his evaluation. It may very well be that the latest resurgence of the Rockets, who largely managed their very own first-round draft capital throughout Houston’s rebuilding seasons from 2020-21 to 2022-23, could have led Brooklyn to change into extra prepared to pursue him -even to a complete reconstruction.
In flip, this led the Nets to aggressively pursue their very own draft property from Houston. As it’s possible you’ll recall, the Rockets initially acquired Brooklyn’s first-round property by 2027. once they traded James Harden there in January 2021 early in Houston’s rebuilding cycle.
About two and a half years later, the success of that rebuild could have opened the door to a brand new market alternative for the Rockets.
Extra: Explaining the complicated proposed deal between the Rockets and Nets
This text was initially revealed on Rockets Wire: Tilman Fertitta: Houston’s rebuilding success led Nets to do the identical
