Having veteran depth for a contending team is never a bad thing, but it's something the Houston Rockets have to consider over the next few weeks to months. As the organization is now in a championship window, it might be a better idea to move on from some of their veteran players to allow all of their young stars to play.
The Rockets need to play the best seven to 10 players.
That includes some unproven young guys, including Reed Sheppard.
For somebody like Aaron Holiday, that could impact him heavily.
Clutch Points recently named him a trade candidate, and the reason behind it makes perfect sense. While the Rockets could view him as a player who could take some pressure off a few of the youngsters in certain situations, the reality is that they need Sheppard and Amen Thompson to play as much as possible over the next few years.
Thompson is already a guarantee in that regard.
“With Fred VanVleet, Reed Sheppard, Amen Thompson, and even Kevin Durant functioning as secondary playmakers, Holiday could find himself battling for minutes from day one. In an ideal world, he’d be the reliable third guard, a plug-and-play option when foul trouble or injuries hit. But in a roster as deep as Houston’s, ‘ideal’ is often sacrificed for fit and opportunity cost.
“From a trade perspective, Holiday’s $3M deal is very movable. It’s low enough for a playoff team to absorb without gutting its roster, but high enough to help in salary matching. If Houston needs to package salaries for a bigger move, say, to address backup center depth or wing scoring, Holiday could be the odd man out,” they wrote.
It's also fair to note that if Holiday became available on the trade market, there could be a team willing to give something up for him. The Rockets likely wouldn't get much back, but if they can guarantee that he wouldn't have to play and all the youngsters would, it might be the better option.