[The following submission is from the Houston Rockets, run by students in the mock deadline practicum at the SBC Las Vegas Immersive.]

Assignment: Houston Rockets

Team Members: Grant Gilbert, Pierre Riddle, Danish Pradhan, Jailon Bates, Levy Renaud, Faith LeMelle

The Rockets are in full rebuild mode. We aspired to acquire draft capital to build around our recent lottery picks (Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr.). Our organizational focus is player development and scouting.

With an exciting draft class in 2023, we hope to add top talent like Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson, or Amen Thompson to further establish our young core for the foreseeable future. That may mean a couple of developmental years before experiencing continued growth toward long-term success. 

Green was impressive as a rookie, averaging 17.3 points a game while shooting 42.6 percent from the field. With the addition of Smith, we set out to acquire draft picks by trading our high-priced veterans while thinning out some of our younger players stuck in a crowded backcourt at shooting guard. We also wanted to stick to players on one or two-year contracts to free up future cap space for flexibility.

In the interest of offering Jalen Green an expanded role, we chose to move on from Kevin Porter Jr., who was entering the final year of his rookie contract. After intense negotiations with several teams, we dealt him to the Toronto Raptors with Garrison Mathews for a couple of picks (a first and second) and Christian Koloko. The first-rounder isn’t until 2029, which should be during Toronto’s rebuilding years following their run at a championship (following their [mock] acquisition of Kevin Durant).

We sent Eric Gordon to the Los Angeles Lakers for multiple prospects in Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn and Max Christie (No. 35 in the 2022 draft) while adding a second-rounder. We see the potential for growth in an expanded role for Horton-Tucker, added a starting point guard in Nunn and a highly-valued prospect on our draft board in Christie.

 We sent prospects Daishen Nix and Usman Garuba to the Atlanta Hawks for a veteran wing presence in Maurice Harkless and a second-rounder. Harkless isn’t necessarily on our timeline, but adding a defensive wing will help us improve upon our 29th-ranked defensive rating from last season. Finally, our group made two more trades to move off salary for future draft capital, with Kenyon Martin Jr. and Marquese Chriss out for second-round considerations.

 In total, we acquired one unprotected first-round pick, five second-rounders, and the rights to two recent second-round picks (Koloko and Christie). We thinned out duplication while acquiring young veterans Nunn and Horton-Tucker, along with an experienced defender in Harkless.

Trade 1

  • Houston received the rights to Christian Koloko (2022-33rd), a 2029 first-rounder and a 2027 second-rounder.
  • Toronto received Kevin Porter Jr. and Garrison Mathews (via the Goran Dragic trade exception).

Trade 2

  • Houston received Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, Max Christie and a 2023 second-rounder via the Chicago Bulls.
  •  Los Angeles Lakers received Eric Gordon.

Trade 3

  • Houston received Maurice Harkless and a 2025 second-rounder via the Oklahoma City Thunder.
  • Atlanta received Daishen Nix and Usman Garuba.

Trade 4

  • Houston received a 2026 second-rounder via the Minnesota Timberwolves.
  • New York received: Kenyon Martin Jr.

Trade 5

  • Houston received a 2026 second-rounder via the Charlotte Hornets.
  • San Antonio received Marquese Chriss.

Other

  • Renounced the rights to Bruno Fernando.
  • Signed Christian Koloko to a three-year, $6 million contract with a team option on the final season into the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

Final Roster
PG: Kendrick Nunn, Tyty Washington, Trey Burke
SG: Jalen Green, Josh Christopher, David Nwaba, Max Christie
SF: Jae’Sean Tate, Talen Horton-Tucker, Sterling Brown
PF: Jabari Smith Jr., Maurice Harkless, Tari Eason
C: Alperen Şengün, Christian Koloko, Boban Marjanović

– Grant Gilbert and Pierre Riddle