This Blazers-Rockets trade sends two experienced players to Portland

Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, Danuel House Jr., DJ Augustin, damian Lillard, NBA Trade Rumors
NBA Analysis Network

After trading Russell Westbrook for John Wall before the NBA season began and after trading James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets in January, the Houston Rockets made it very clear that they were going to be rebuilding moving forward and they did a good job in terms of “tanking” this season. 

Houston finished the regular season 17-55, the worst record in the NBA and their worst record since the 1982-83 season. In that season though, Houston ended up with the first overall pick in the 1983 NBA Draft, leading to them selecting eventual Hall-of-Famer Ralph Sampson. The following year, Houston again ended up with the first pick in the 1984 draft and they selected Hakeem Olajuwon, who turned out to be a pretty good basketball player!

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The Rockets have had a lot of success in the past in terms of rebuilding and creating championship-caliber teams, but a lot of their fortunes will start with the draft lottery this year. Houston, along with Detroit and Orlando, has the best chance to end up with the number one overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and they are guaranteed to have a Top-5 pick. 

However, if they end up with the 5th pick in the draft, that pick will convey over to the Oklahoma City Thunder due to the Chris Paul trade back in 2017. Houston will be praying that they end up with the first overall pick in the draft to solve a lot of their problems, but they will also be looking to make some moves this offseason in terms of adding future draft picks and talent. 

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As a result, they could look to strike a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that is bringing in a new head coach, but is still one of the more talented teams in the league. With Damian Lillard, Portland is always going to be in the playoff discussion, but they really do need to find some ways to add more talent to their second-unit in the offseason. 

Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report believes that there is a deal that could possibly be done in the offseason to help better both the Trail Blazers and the Rockets. With that said, let’s take a look at this offseason proposal to see who would be involved. 

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