The Houston Rockets are playing the worst basketball the franchise has ever seen. They have lost 18-consecutive games with the last 11 coming by double-digits. They somehow still don’t have the worst record in the NBA, but they will be sellers at the NBA Trade Deadline with Victor Oladipo being available and the Golden State Warriors having interest.
Houston has already made several trades this year. They had the Russell Westbrook blockbuster with the Washington Wizards that brought John Wall to town. The Rockets’ James Harden blockbuster with the Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers, and Cleveland Cavaliers changed the landscape of the NBA with a new super team in Brooklyn. P.J. Tucker was just traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, and there will probably be more trades on the horizon.
Houston has some veterans that will also be shopped. Eric Gordon and Ben McLemore have both garnered some interest, while Sterling Brown could also be on the move. The name that many people are paying attention to is Victor Oladipo.
The Rockets acquired Oladipo as part of the four-team deal with Harden. He is on an expiring contract and turned down an extension from the organization, so it is likely he will be moved. However, if they are going to get a deal done for him, they will have to lower their asking price.
According to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, via the subscription-based, The Athletic, the Warriors showed interest in acquiring Oladipo from the Rockets, but the asking price was too steep to seriously consider.
It is anyone’s guess as to what the Rockets are looking to get for Oladipo, but for a team that has said they will be aggressive leading up to the deadline to say that the price is too steep, it is likely that Houston is asking for too much.
Oladipo has looked better at times this season, but it is hard to envision him returning to the All-Star level he was at in 2018 and 2019. This season he is averaging 20.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.4 steals in 33 minutes per game in 27 total games between the Pacers and Rockets.
