The Houston Rockets are in the middle of an organic rebuild following the James Harden trade. After a few losing seasons, they have already benefited in terms of positioning in the NBA Draft to select elite prospects like Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr. in addition to plenty of other talents.
It would likely be premature for the Rockets to make a major trade as the Cleveland Cavaliers recently did when they acquired Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz. Could they instead benefit from a smaller move?
For any rebuilding team, it can help to have veteran players who won’t move the needle enough to make for mediocre seasons but can still offer leadership by example for young players daily. Eric Gordon has been helpful in this regard, but there’s also some overlap, given he’s a pure shooting guard.
In a conversation with NBA Analysis Network, one scout mentioned that he likes the idea of the Rockets trading for Mike Conley from the Utah Jazz. His skill-set would complement their backcourt cornerstone, Jalen Green while offering a veteran presence.
“It would help Jalen Green and KPJ to have a veteran like Conley to help run the offense. He’s been initiating offense for over a decade and is really effective at attacking off the catch. The Rockets’ young guys could gain a lot of valuable knowledge by playing alongside Conley for the next few years while improving their spacing.”
Conley is coming off a strong 2021-22 regular season campaign with the Jazz. He appeared in 72 games and averaged 13.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.3 assists. He shot 43.5 percent from the floor and 40.8 percent from 3-point range.
As the scout explained, Conley is an efficient all-around pick-and-roll orchestrator who thrives at knocking down catch-and-shoot jumpers when playing off the ball. He’s not someone that is going to require a big usage rate and has transitioned into being a complementary talent that picks his spots.
Scroll to Continue
The Rockets could benefit from Conley’s presence on the court to add more backcourt depth. Keeping the defense honest for Green throughout games would undoubtedly be a helpful option, and Conley could help.
The main issue with Conley as a trade target for many teams is his remaining salary. He is set to earn nearly $22.7 million during the 2022-23 season and around $24.4 million at age 36 in 2023-24. He has $14.3 million guaranteed of that final-year salary, but regardless, a team isn’t going to want to trade value and then waive him later just to have to hold dead cap space.
From a salary cap standpoint, the Rockets would likely need to engage in a multi-team trade that sends Eric Gordon to a third team for Conley to end up in Houston. The Jazz are in the business of trading veteran players, not acquiring more. Gordon would likely appeal to more teams on the trade market.
You can follow Grant Afseth on Twitter at @GrantAfseth.
Want the latest in news and insider information on the Houston Rockets? Click here
Follow Inside the Rockets on Facebook here
Follow Inside the Rockets on Twitter @InsideRocketsFN
.