The Houston Rockets reportedly planned on making a handsome offer to a Boston Celtics star in free agency.
The Rockets have obvious connections to the Celtics considering Houston’s head coach, Ime Udoka, brought Boston within two wins of an NBA championship in 2022.
Houston wants to become more robust on defense as they look to jockey for position in the Western Conference, and the Rockets were planning to offer a Celtics guard — one of the best defenders in the world — a contract before he signed an extension to remain with Boston.
According to a report from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Houston was eyeing Celtics two-way monster Derrick White as its next signing.
Windhorst’s report was recently shared to X by J.E. Skeets, co-host of The Athletic’s “No Dunks” podcast:
“Windy: “… once the [Rockets] saw Donovan Mitchell and Derrick White extend their contracts over the summer and bypass free agency, they moved on from wanting to save cap space for 2025, sources said. Houston focused on getting deals done with Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun …”
It looks like the Rockets won’t end up with White or Mitchell unless they can work out a genius trade for either player.
It’s clear that Houston is looking to improve any way it can. Look for Green to be involved in a ton of trade discussions in the coming future. Şengün is the only player who should be considered untouchable by the Rockets’ front office.
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