The Texans traded one of their best players for draft picks and David Johnson
Report: Texans trade DeAndre Hopkins
Mar 16, 2020, 12:26 pm
DeAndre Hopkins and the Texans were oh, so close. Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
The Texans trade DeAndre Hopkins or pennies on the dollar.
The trade
DeAndre Hopkins and a fourth round pick go to Cards for David Johnson and a second round pick this year and a fourth round pick next year.
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) March 16, 2020
What an absolutely brutal return for what could be the best wideout in football.
The Texans added into the deal a fourth round pick as well making it an absolutely atrocious return.
David Johnson has been a disappoitment since his All-Pro season.
Hopkins didn't even warrant a first? Brutal.
Hopkins first tweet
Mood🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/H25PryMKzE
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) March 16, 2020
Sensational was Hopkins' message. He seems happy to be headed out. Why wouldn't he? He is likely getting a new deal and at the very least he is getting to a team thrilled to have him.
The offense now
Will Fuller and Kenny Stills are now the top pass catchers on the Texans. The team also still has DeAndre Carter and Keke Coutee who are both slot wideout types.
The team will have to replace one of the best players in the history of the franchise. Hopkins almost never missed games. Stills and Fuller both have missed time recently. Stills missed three games this past season and left others with injury. Fuller has played 42 of the 64 possible regular season games in his career. In the past three years, he has missed 20 of the past 48 possible regular season games.
The direction of the offense is hard to figure out right now. They still have a speedster in Fuller but he isn't reliable. They have an abundance of tight ends and two pass-catching running backs named Johnson.
Congratulations to new play caller Tim Kelly. You have one of the hardest jobs in the world now: figuring out the Texans offense post-Hopkins.
O'Brien with full power has become reckless
The amount of recklessness shown by O'Brien and the lack of a filter has been incredible to watch.
The trade for Tunsil was paying above sticker price. The Texans didn't sign him to an extension and will make him the highest paid offensive lineman in NFL history now.
This is the worst move in Texans history though. This takes the cake. Unless there is some medical or mental issue the Texans know about that nobody else does this takes the cake for worst move in franchise history.
Tunsil and Clowney give their thoughts
A lot of #Texans players sharing how they feel on Instagram
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) March 16, 2020
Clowney: “Damn OB 😂😂😂”
Tunsil: “🤦🏾♂️” pic.twitter.com/QFMzmwkpK2
Laremy Tunsil and former Texans pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney weighed in on Instagram.
Apparently it was about money
Texans didn’t want to re-do Hopkins contract with three years left.
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) March 16, 2020
This is horrible by the Texans. They could have stood pat. Hopkins wasn't going to sit with the new rules hurting veteran holdouts.
Per the new CBA from Dan Graziano: A "player playing under a contract signed as a veteran who fails to report to his club's preseason training camp on time or reports and leaves the club for more than five days" cannot have his fines waived by the team upon return and will not earn an accrued season for that season. Harsh, but note that it specifies "a contract signed as a veteran."
Also, even if he wanted new money, why wouldn't you take care of him? He was one of the best players at his position! He is better at wideout than Tunsil is at tackle and yet Tunsil is about to cash in. Goodness.
Watt Weighs In
This tweet was ahead of it’s time. https://t.co/CGs10yDJKj
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 16, 2020
Former Texans cornerback Kareem Jackson said he believes Watt might get traded.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
_____________________________________________
*Looking to get the word out about your business, products, or services? Consider advertising on SportsMap! It's a great way to get in front of Houston sports fans. Click the link below for more information!