The Phoenix Suns have alternated wins and losses over their last seven games.

Unfortunately for the Houston Rockets, the Suns lost their most recent game, a tight loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Both Houston and Phoenix would have loved for the Suns to take that one, though for Houston they probably wish that both teams had lost. The Rockets are obviously chasing the Grizzlies in the standings, but Houston also has the ability to swap to Phoenix’s pick, which they will almost certainly do.

That swap, along with Houston owning Phoenix’s unprotected 2027 first round pick, has been the subject of a lot of talk over the past year. Phoenix’s new owner and front office have maintained that the team has no intention of tanking. With Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on the team, that’s basically impossible. However, the Suns are 30-35 and have the most expensive team in the league. That’s not a great thing for the 11th-best team in the West. Still, Phoenix can maintain some hope of making the play-in tournament this season since the San Antonio Spurs have punted and the Dallas Mavericks are being punted.

Back to Durant: there’s a lot of speculation that the Suns will part with the game’s best shooter (non-Steph Curry division) since Phoenix was willing to discuss trade proposals at the deadline. But with just one year left on his deal for a season in which he will be 37, Durant’s appeal is short-term. Therefore, the difference in perceived value is probably too large of a bridge. Moreover, I think Denver, Minnesota, and OKC will all be in the bidding war for Durant and OKC will be able to trade enough draft capital to make Phoenix bite.

Just for fun, I’ve created Durant trade packages from the perspective of Rockets fans vs. that of Suns fans:

We’ll be in the Playback room tonight, so you should come join to watch the Rockets and talk about the game. Remember, we get a handful of VIP passes that we give out to anyone who wants to watch the game. No League Pass necessary!

Tip-off

7pm CT

How To Watch

Space City Home Network and Playback

Injury Report

Rockets

Fred VanVleet: GTD

Reed Sheppard: OUT

Amen Thompson: OUT

Suns

Bradley Beal: GTD

Monte Morris: GTD

Cody Martin: GTD

The Line (as of this post)

N/A

Check here for updates

Looking ahead because we can

Friday night in Houston against the Dallas Mavericks