Paulo Alves

the Rockets will have a better idea come February by the time you get inside that two-month window.

And so if it doesn't look good on Fred, and if Reed is still at the level we've seen the last 10 games, then that's the one spot where you might not have to invest that much, but you could get a lot of bang for your buck, at least in terms of, you know, the playoff formula.

Like, I don't think...

You're certainly not going to stop playing Reid in the regular season.

He needs to get better.

He needs to continue developing.

But it could potentially provide an insurance policy for the playoffs that, you know, a month or so ago, we didn't think would be necessary at all.

Like my response at the time was, who are you going to take away minutes from?

If you bring in someone, how are they going to play?

Well, I think now there's a pretty clear path where someone could play and upgrade this rotation relative to what we've seen from Reed the last 9 or 10 games.

And I don't know if you want to do it in the regular season, but especially if you're pessimistic on Fred's ability to return by the playoffs...

then I could see it making a little more sense to pursue a veteran guard, if not by trade, certainly by the buyout market.

Not saying a huge acquisition, nothing super transformative, but I guess Reid's struggles the last 10 days or so have me a little more open-minded to exploring that guard market.

Yeah.

Paolo, where are you at in terms of, I guess, how REIT struggles impact the trade deadline?

Have you moved off your position at all relative to a few weeks ago?

Not to say that my position has entirely changed, but my mind is opening a little bit.

That's where I'm at.

Paolo, where are you at on the trade front?

Fine, but I was withstanding it for the first six weeks when Reid looked that good.