Should the Rockets make a godfather offer for Donovan Mitchell?

Is Spida the next star to takeover H-Town?

The Houston Rockets pursuit of a star has been talked about ad nauseum and although the discourse can get tiring, fantasizing over “what could be” is what keeps bringing us back. Since the Rockets’ season ended earlier than hoped, I’ve been calculating who the biggest star that Houston can realistically acquire this offseason, and I ultimately landed on Donovan Mitchell.

The Rockets’ bevy of assets, appetite for immediate contention, and desirable location should hypothetically make Houston a legitimate landing spot for the explosive guard, but there would need to be a mutual desire between the two parties.

It does appear that there may be a mutual interest between the two following a recent report from Kelly Iko of The Athletic. If the Cleveland Cavaliers also feel unconvinced in their long-term ability to retain Mitchell, it will open up a trading frenzy for the __ time All-Star.

We should know more about which direction this is heading once the Cavs hire a new coach. Golden State Warriors’ assistant, Kenny Atkinson, sounds like the current favorite to land the job, but there’s been whispers of the New York Knicks’ Johnnie Bryant – who is familiar with Mitchell from their Utah days – gaining steam.

Nonetheless, a key advantage for Houston, along with the other rumored teams monitoring Mitchell’s situation, is the size of the market. He has also been linked to the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat for years, and you always must consider the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal of this magnitude. It’s not surprising that he has a perceived appetite for one of those previously mentioned teams after spending his entire career in the smaller Salt Lake and Cleveland markets.

Now of course, any other team with a wealthy chest of assets is a threat to join the Mitchell sweepstakes, but any darkhorse buyer would surely want assurance of Mitchell extending his contract given what they must exchange for him.

It’s still unclear how much thought Mitchell has given to joining the Rockets, but in considering where he best fits in and what’s left following a trade for him, the Rockets have to be near the top. The Lakers may have interest, but they lack the significant trade assets to satisfy Cleveland in a two-team deal. The Nets continue to linger in purgatory as they try to figure out if they want to salvage a mediocre team or start from scratch.

The Heat will always poke around for a star, but even they have some things to figure out on their end with as they need to figure out their Jimmy Butler extension predicament. A swap of Butler and Mitchell is an option, but are the Cavs really going to jump to extend Butler?

Mitchell’s hometown team, the Knicks, once figured to be the endgame, but New York may now be reluctant to go all in for him following the ascension of Jalen Brunson and the potential downfalls of having a diminutive backcourt.

I acknowledge that Houston would also be straddled with a shorter backcourt should Mitchell be paired with Fred VanVleet, but the defensive upside is higher for those two givens that VanVleet is a far superior defender opposed to Brunson. Mitchell would also fill a larger need for Houston – a consistent perimeter scorer – that isn’t as glaring for New York as they have Brunson. Overall, Houston appears to be a better fit given each team’s roster construction.

Assuming that Mitchell would extend long-term should the Rockets acquire him, the next biggest conundrum is how much it would take to get him. Any trade package likely starts off with the number three pick in this year’s draft and Jalen Green. As far as what else, that’s where the actual negotiation begins. Cleveland is certainly going to want to recoup most of what they sent out for Mitchell, but with this being the final year of his contract, they lack the same amount of leverage that the Utah Jazz once had.

If you recall, Utah was able to haul in multiple young players with upside, Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton, and essentially four first-round picks (Ochai Agbaji counts) and two pick swaps. Either way, it will probably take at least three-to-four firsts to get this done for Houston, which I’m fine with given that he’d be locked in for the foreseeable future.

Houston can match Mitchell’s $34 million salary figure in a trade with contracts coming from the bench. Between Jock Landale’s $8 million, and Jeff Green and Jae’Sean Tate’s respective $9.6 million and $7 million team options, there’s plenty of money to aggregate a trade. However, I fear that another member of the Core Six will also need to be included in any deal to sweeten the pot for Cleveland.

Alperen Sengun is absolutely off the table, as the main goal is to pair him with Mitchell to create the ideal inside-outside duo. Amen Thompson is also off the board in my estimation as well. Jabari Smith Jr. is an attractive option for the Cavs, but he makes too much sense for the Rockets to further invest in as a supplementary piece around Sengun and Mitchell. So unfortunately, that leaves either Tari Eason and/or Cam Whitmore as part of the outgoing party in a blockbuster trade.

Sighs deeply

Theoretically, Whitmore’s game is more redundant to Green than Eason is, but in replacing Mitchell, it would make sense for the offensively limited Cavs to want as many guys as possible that can put the ball in the basket. However, I would ultimately suspect that Cleveland would be more interested in either Eason or Smith Jr., and if Jabari is off the table, that would leave Eason as the odd man out.

Weeps uncontrollably

Is Mitchell worth parting with Green, Eason, three-to-four draft picks, and potentially more? It certainly would tug on my heartstrings to see those guys go, but I believe we tend to overvalue the members of the Core Six in hopes of them all blossoming in H-Town. Should they not, it’s best to convert some of them into a proven commodity.

As far as proven and consistent stars that may be available go, Mitchell is the bell of the ball. The likelihood of Joel Embiid or Giannis Antetokounmpo becoming available this offseason is close to none. Any pipe dreams of making a run with Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Jimmy Butler or Paul George should be mitigated, especially considering the miles put on their bodies.

Once you get past those guys, the next biggest names that could be on the move this summer are Karl-Anthony Towns and Brandon Ingram, and if you’ve been paying attention to them in the playoffs, they can’t be relied upon to get you consistent buckets. At least with Mitchell, you know that he can heat up and go shot for shot with the other team in a playoff series.

While I believe that a move of this extent may be rushed and one season too early, I’m also not in the mindset of turning down perennial all-stars. If the franchise is bent on accelerating into contention following a promising 2023-24 season, acquiring Donovan Mitchell is the most immediate path forward.