The recent NBA blockbuster has a double impact on the Houston Rockets

Here are the people. The opening salvo of the NBA offseason.

Josh Giddey is a Chicago Bull. Alex Caruso is an Oklahoma City Thunder. This is a major trade with significant implications around the league.

This even has implications for the Houston Rockets. In fact, it impacts the team in at least two different ways.

We’ll start with the obvious. The Thunder have improved.

In this year’s playoffs, Giddey was relegated to just 18.1 minutes per game. As a negative and non-shooting defender, he was a liability on both ends of the floor.

Do you still believe in the benefits of Giddey? You are entitled to this opinion. Still, the odds are extremely high that Caruso will be a more influential player in 2024-25.

After all, he’s arguably the best defensive back in the league. Caruso has also been a reliable floor spacer for several seasons. The Thunder went from dangerous to downright deadly.

It is very good. Let’s be honest: The Rockets weren’t likely to compete with the Thunder this year anyway. It will probably take them a few seasons to reach this level.

Unfortunately, this trade could have made it more difficult.

God bless the Bulls.

It’s the little engine that didn’t make it, but tried anyway. The Bulls have refused to rebuild for years despite their obvious need to do so.

Those days are over. This agreement should mark a reconstruction in Chicago. This is bad news for the Rockets.

Before this trade, the Bulls were viable competition for the Brooklyn Nets. They were two teams of similar levels. From now on, the Nets have every chance of erasing them in the standings.

Don’t consider this an overreaction. Every team counts. If the Hawks choose to move Trae Young this summer, the Nets could see an easy path to the playoffs. Suddenly, the Rockets’ dreams of landing a blue-chip prospect in a stacked 2025 draft will be dashed. Hopefully we’ll see another Eastern Conference team make moves to bolster their roster soon:

For what it’s worth, it’s only the beginning of the offseason.