Giannis Antetokounmpo's official introduction to the NBA trade market sent most of the league into a frenzy. The Houston Rockets apparently aren't part of the hoopla, though. As Jake Fischer relayed on a recent B/R stream, the Rockets are "not going to be too actively involved" in the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes.
While some could argue Houston should rethink that approach, the only opinion that truly matters here is the Rockets'. And the way they seemingly see it, their offseason addition of Kevin Durant was aggressive enough. They're heavyweight contenders already, and given their collection of draft picks and prospects, their future might be even brighter than their present.
The Rockets are avoiding the rhythm disruption of a massive midseason move.
Even if the spacing concerns of an Antetokounmpo-Amen Thompson-Alperen Sengun trio are easy to spot, it's hard to argue Houston wouldn't be better with the two-time MVP added to the roster. The question, though, is how much better do they need to be in order to capture the crown?
Maybe not at all, honestly. This team has the league's fifth-highest winning percentage and fourth-best net efficiency rating, per NBA.com. History holds that it takes top-10 rankings in offensive and defensive efficiency to take home the title, and the Rockets are sitting pretty in the fourth and sixth spots, respectively.
And that's with so many avenues toward internal improvement still ahead.
This is Thompson's first season as a full-time starter and Reed Sheppard's first as a rotation regular. Dorian Finney-Smith is clearly still feeling the aftereffects of offseason ankle surgery. Tari Eason has had trouble ducking the injury bug. Floor general Fred VanVleet has been sidelined all season by a torn ACL, but maybe a heroic playoff return is still possible.
It feels like nearly the entire roster can perform better than it has—other than Durant, who's been everything Houston could've hoped for and more—and, again, this is already one of the league's true juggernauts.
Again, if you wanted to argue that's not reason enough to avoid an Antetokounmpo pursuit, you could. He's Giannis freakin' Antetokounmpo, a perennial MVP candidate and a credible answer in the best-player-on-the-planet debate.
But it sounds like the Rockets aren't interested, and, strange as this may sound, you can understand why. Houston has a real have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too scenario ahead where it can actually pull off the two-timeline approach by contending right now and perhaps factoring even further in future championship chases.