The Rockets have taken a step towards constructing round their younger core, locking in rookie-scale extensions for Jalen Inexperienced and Alperen Sengun. These strikes recommend Houston might now not be a significant cap area participant within the 2025 NBA offseason, however it’s clear they’re nonetheless dreaming huge about touchdown a star.
For now, the Rockets are content material to observe, wait, and plan for the appropriate time to strike. And that point may come before some suppose, as relayed by NBA insider Marc Stein of The Stein Line.
Kevin Durant stays on their radar — a widely known Houston goal. However one other intriguing identify has surfaced: Jimmy Butler.
Butler and the Warmth didn’t attain an extension this offseason, and with a participant choice for subsequent yr, Butler may both hit the free-agent market or opt-in and discover a commerce. Ought to he select the latter, Houston might emerge as a high vacation spot, Stein famous.
Butler, in fact, hails from the Houston space. Mix that with coach Ime Udoka’s need to herald established veterans, and you’ve got a possible late-career homecoming that would match like a glove. Including Butler’s grit to a core of Inexperienced, Sengun, and Fred VanVleet may make the Rockets a respectable menace within the West.
The takeaway? Houston isn’t fairly able to make a splash, however they’re eyeing the longer term. Butler, Durant, or whoever the subsequent star to shake free is likely to be … the Rockets are positioning themselves to pounce. It’s a technique that would pay dividends, and when the second comes, don’t be stunned if Houston finds itself proper within the combine.
On the lookout for the newest NBA Insider Information & Rumors?
