Rockets Trade Rumors: Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson Eyed After Nets' Kevin Durant Deal

Having already clinched their third consecutive losing season, the Houston Rockets might be looking to accelerate their timeline to becoming playoff contenders.

Per The Athletic's Kelly Iko, the Rockets are among the teams that have called the Brooklyn Nets about the availability of Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson.

The Nets acquired Bridges and Johnson as part of the return in their trade that sent Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports noted the Durant trade isn't official yet. The Nets are reportedly looking to potentially expand it with a third team, per Fischer, but Brooklyn intends to keep Bridges beyond Thursday's trade deadline.

It makes sense that the Nets would want to keep Bridges. He's an excellent two-way player who was named to the All-Defensive first team last season and is in the first season of a four-year, $90 million contract.

The Rockets are one of the few teams that could present a strong package of draft picks that might appeal to the Nets if they were to entertain offers for Bridges. Some of those picks originally belonged to Brooklyn and were sent to the Rockets in the James Harden trade.

Johnson seems like he could be on the move again. He's in the final season of his rookie contract and has one skill that is very valuable to teams in playoff contention. The 26-year-old is shooting 45.5 percent from three-point range in 17 games this season.

There's no obvious benefit to the Rockets acquiring a player like Johnson right now. They aren't close to contending, though perhaps they see an opening to get him to sign a team-friendly contract heading into restricted free agency.

It's also possible that Houston governor Tilman Fertitta wants to see his team start making significant progress soon. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Christmas Day that James Harden would consider returning to the Rockets this summer if he were to leave the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Rockets are on pace to have their third consecutive season with 20 or fewer wins. Jalen Green, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NBA draft, is starting to show signs of progress with three 40-point games since Jan. 18.

Jabari Smith Jr. is still trying to find himself, but the 19-year-old rookie has started all 52 games he's played this season.

Building a roster of veteran talent around Green and Smith should have the Rockets in a much better position to at least get closer to the .500 mark next season if they can make a few deals between the trade deadline and offseason.