TRADE DEADLINE
All the reasons the Texans should take the trade and run
Nov 2, 2021, 11:43 am
The Texans should move on from Deshaun Watson. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Deshaun Watson after a Houston Texans game
On Sept. 4, 1972, robbers dropped through a skylight at the Montreal Museum of Art – like a real-life Hollywood movie – tied up three guards and stole a rare Rembrandt painting worth millions of dollars.
Not Deshaun Watson millions … but still a fortune. The painting has never been recovered. It's up in the air whether Watson's NFL career can ever be recovered.
I wonder, when thieves steal a valuable painting, what next? I'm guessing the art thieves didn't take the painting for the walls of their luxury country estate appointed with rich Corinthian leather. The thieves need to find a buyer, who'll pay pennies on Rembrandt's dollars to take the painting off their hands. Then the new owner must keep the painting under wraps, it's stolen property. It's not like the owner can flip the painting like Chip and Joanna Gaines or use it to impress guests at a dinner party. The Rembrandt has been rendered worthless to everybody except its secret owner.
The Rembrandt is Deshaun Watson, on paper worth $156 million, but really worthless, at least this season. The owner is Cal McNair. Fans and the media used to ask, how come Hillbilly Cal rarely speaks publicly? Now we know – he's a boob who most recently had to apologize for dropping a racist comment at a fun golf event.
The Texans' reported asking price for Watson is three first-round draft picks plus other assets. Here's what the Texans' asking price should be:
Three first-round draft picks plus other assets … or best offer.
The Texans need to get Watson off their books and out of Houston by 3 p.m. today – the NFL's trade deadline. Watson's legal problems are well documented: 22 civil suits and 10 criminal complaints alleging sexual misconduct. Following the Watson case is like binge watching Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.
The civil suits could go away with the stroke of a pen on some heavy money orders. The criminal complaints are another story. If a grand jury indicts Watson and he stands trial, while unlikely, Watson might be pre-occupied for several years. He could become a registered sex offender with his home address made public on the Internet. That's what you call a hard sell.
Having Rusty Hardin as Watson's lawyer isn't the guaranteed win or stay out of jail card it once was. Last week, Hardin was in court defending a client accused of negligence, gross negligence and vicarious liability in a case involving an injured worker at Bush-Intercontinental Airport. The jury found Harden's client guilty and the client was ordered to pay $352 million in damages.
You can get two Deshaun Watsons and a kicker for that kind of money.
The Texans were rumored to have a deal nearly in place to trade Watson to the Miami Dolphins last week. But the Texans reportedly upped their asking price at the last minute, believing that Watson's civil suits might be settled soon. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross reportedly wants Watson's legal problems gone before finalizing a trade.
Here's what the Dolphins' hometown newspaper, the Miami Herald, had to say about a possible trade for Watson:
"The Miami Dolphins need a lesson in denouncing bad behavior more than they need Deshaun Watson." That's not exactly the Welcome Wagon for Watson.
If the Texans can find a team willing to roll the dice on Watson they should take the trade and run. Watson is cryptocurrency, his value could increase next off-season, but it also could go down the toilet.
Does Texans management even realize this team is a flat out embarrassment to Houston? Talk show callers hate owner McNair and despise his puppet master Jack Easterby. First year coach David Culley has that Tom Coughlin befuddled look on the sidelines, making questionable, and since they're losing, dumb calls. He is the Bizarro version of Bum Phillips' famous quote about Bear Bryant: Culley can take his'n and lose to your'n, and then he can turn around and take you'n and lose to his'n.
The Texans have lost seven straight games and their fans have plain stopped caring. NRG Stadium looked like a ghost town last Sunday with the Texans hosting an attractive opponent, the Los Angeles Rams. Season ticket holders are dumping their seats for as low as $12. Or they're eating their tickets because nobody's buying.
Around the country, the Texans are either the worst team in the NFL or darn close to it, with a $156 million alleged sexual predator banished from their game day roster.
And still the Texans act like they're holding all the cards, sticking with their sky-high trade demands for Watson. For the sake of the team, the fans, the city and the Harris County jury pool, the Texans need to move on from Deshaun Watson. Today could be their last best chance.
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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!
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