The Houston Rockets didn’t just lose to the Lakers in the playoffs. They lost to them. And now, weirdly, they might try to pull one of L.A.’s own guys away. We’re talking about Marcus Smart, the veteran guard who spent last season with the purple and gold.
According to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, Smart is seriously considering turning down his $5.4 million player option with the Lakers before Monday’s deadline. If he does that, he hits the open market. And Houston is lurking.
Smart averaged 9.3 points per game this past regular season. Not eye-popping numbers. But the guy is a defensive specialist, a former Defensive Player of the Year who brings a nasty edge. That’s exactly the kind of energy a young, rebuilding Rockets team could use.
The Rockets have a lot of moving parts. They’ve got to figure out what to do with Tari Eason, their own defensive-minded swingman. Early signs suggest they want to keep him. But nothing’s final until the ink dries.
Brown and Finney-Smith in the Mix
Houston’s shopping list doesn’t stop with Smart. They’ve also been linked to Boston’s Jaylen Brown, which is fascinating. Brown and Rockets head coach Ime Udoka go way back. Udoka was on the Celtics staff when Brown made deep playoff runs, including that 2022 Finals trip. That relationship absolutely matters.
Brown’s been the subject of trade chatter for weeks now. He’s even taken to social media to defend himself, which usually means the relationship with the current team is getting shaky. If the Celtics decide to move on, Houston could be a real landing spot.
The Rockets would need to clear cap space and move pieces to make any of this work. One name floating around as a potential trade chip is Dorian Finney-Smith. The report says Houston is exploring the trade market for Finney-Smith, who’s got three years left on his deal at $13.3 million per season. The last two years aren’t guaranteed, which actually makes that contract more movable.
So the Rockets are juggling a bunch of decisions. Smart. Brown. Finney-Smith. Eason. And that’s before we even talk about what they do with their lottery picks. This summer is going to tell us a lot about what direction this franchise is actually heading.
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