There were certainly rumors involving Christian Wood, Eric Gordon, and even a few with an idled John Wall leading up to Thursday’s NBA trade deadline for the 2021-22 season. But with all of those veterans already under contract for 2022-23, the Rockets seemingly did not receive offers strong enough to justify moving them at this early stage.
Considering that Houston (15-40) holds the Western Conference’s worst record and is in the early stages of a franchise rebuild, it’s understandable why some fans wanted to extract some value in a trade for them. After all, isn’t clear if any of those players will be around by the time that the Rockets are eventually able to contend again — and Wall has already been deemed as a sub-optimal fit within the current construct.
So, other than a smaller trade sending out Daniel Theis and bringing in Dennis Schroder, the Rockets largely stood pat at the 2022 deadline, and any potential trade options involving the veterans will be tabled until at least the 2022 offseason. On Friday, general manager Rafael Stone held a press conference to explain the thought process behind those decisions, along with his outlook on the months and years ahead for the team.
Scroll on for updates from Friday’s press conference.
