Ben DuBose

And if you're giving up more...

from next year's team when the window should be more open it better move the needle for this year's team and i just don't think so many of the suggestions do and you know one on the higher end i saw some suggestions today that oh the rockets if they could get fred to sign off on a deal could use fred and reed to go after james harden who it appears is on his way out of la

You mean to tell me you're okay with giving up a 21-year-old Reed Shepard, a guy who the Rockets believe could be one of the best offensive players in the NBA one day, for a 36- or 37-year-old James Harden, a guy you could have had for just nothing but cap space?

He was begging to come here just a couple of years ago.

Now you're willing to give up a number three overall pick at 21 years old who the team thinks, and we've seen glimpses of it, could be one of the best offensive players in the league one day?

That's just ridiculously reckless.

At least with James, there's a little bit more of a case to be made that you add him to this year's team and maybe they could make a run.

But then there's even a greater hit to not just next year, but the years beyond that.

I mean, that trade would age horribly when you look a couple of years from now, unless you win a championship, unless you literally win a championship.

Giving up Reed Shepard at this stage for James Harden would look awful, and it would look even worse when we all know James was begging to come back here a couple of years ago, and it would have cost you nothing but cap space.

Like, people are just so desperate for the adrenaline hit of seeing that Shams tweet that the Rockets made an impact move.

that I think people are missing the forest for the trees.

And what bothers me so much about it, you know, the counter argument to all of this is Kevin Durant's 37 years old.

How much longer can you count on this version of Kevin Durant?

What frustrates me so much, Paolo, if that was the mindset, if it was just about getting one of the all-time greats, which he is, and maximizing your chances with Kevin in a Rockets jersey.

In other words, if it was about Kevin Durant and not about the young core,

The Rockets should have traded for Kevin Durant this exact time a year ago.

He was on the market at the deadline.

There were already a few reports that he was open to Houston.

We knew Houston needed a top scorer.