NBA Rumors: Devin Booker Only Player Who Interests Rockets at 2025 Trade Deadline

The Houston Rockets don't seem inclined to break up their young core to acquire a star ahead of Thursday's NBA trade deadline.

Well, unless Devin Booker is on the table, that is.

According to SI.com's Chris Mannix, "Houston continues to take a very disciplined approach to this trade deadline. The Rockets, arguably the NBA's biggest surprise this season, have not expressed any interest in engaging with teams about any of their top young talent. As one exec put it, 'Unless you are calling them about Booker, they are not interested.'"

The Rockets don't have much reason to jump the gun on breaking up their young core.

The team is currently 32-17, third in the Western Conference. The core group of Jalen Green (22 years old), Alperen Şengün (22), Amen Thompson (22), Jabari Smith Jr. (21), Tari Eason (23), Cam Whitmore (21) and Reed Sheppard (20) is on the same timeline and arguably ahead of schedule given the team's fantastic start to the 2024-25 season.

Green (21.5 PPG), Şengün (19.1 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 5.0 APG) and Thompson (13.9 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.4 SPG, 1.2 BPG) in particular look like franchise cornerstones. And the Rockets have surrounded them with complementary veterans like Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks, creating one of the NBA's deepest rotations in the process.

Houston also has solid draft capital going forward, including first-round swap rights with the Brooklyn Nets in 2027, an unprotected first from the Phoenix Suns in 2027, a 2029 first-round pick from either Dallas or Phoenix and its own first-rounders between 2028-31.

Their young core, alongside those future draft assets, gives them two paths going forward.

The first is the Oklahoma City Thunder approach. The Thunder have largely avoided making a giant splash on the trade market, instead allowing a talented core to grow together while maintaining future flexibility. It has helped that the team has a superstar in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and has nailed a number of draft picks, in particular on Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Aaron Wiggins.

The second approach is the one the San Antonio Spurs have taken. The Spurs have an ascending superstar in Victor Wembenyama and solid young players like Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Stephon Castle, Jeremy Sochan and Julian Champagnie. But the Spurs were also flush with future draft capital and decided to use some of it to improve immediately, acquiring De'Aaron Fox over the weekend.

That approach maintained the team's young talent and many of its best future draft assets while still improving the team in the short term, allowing them to make a playoff push in the next few seasons while still keeping a young core intact. Wemby makes them a threat both now and in the future, and the Spurs are well-positioned on both timelines.

But the Rockets are in a better roster situation than the Spurs were before they pulled the trigger on a Fox deal. They are better positioned to take more of a Thunder approach, in other words—unless a star like Booker becomes available, that is.