Houston Rockets: 3 players most likely to be traded in 2018-19

2. Zhou Qi

If the Rockets are going to incentivize someone to absorb big money, they’re going to do everything in their power to avoid moving Melton. As a result, they may be forced to insert Zhou Qi into a trade package to get the gears turning.

Again, it’s not ideal, but neither is hanging on to huge cap figures that don’t provide nearly enough returns on the court. The Rockets need to make a move, and are going to have to throw some extra pieces into the discussion. Losing Qi would hurt, but not nearly as much as it would if Melton was swapped.

Why? Well, Houston already has its center of the future locked down. Clint Capela has a shiny new contract in hand, so he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Behind him, they still have Nene Hilario for two more years and Isaiah Hartenstein showed some promise during Summer League. They can afford to part with the extremely raw Qi.

It’s not like he put on a show during his brief looks with the Rockets a season ago. He connected on only 18.8 percent of his field goals while averaging 1.2 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. The Summer League results were better, but he’s still a huge work in progress.

Other teams know that, but may be intrigued enough by his long-term potential to pull the trigger. If it gets a deal done, Morey can afford to find a second NBA home for Qi.