Coach Udoka mentioned that Whitmore would play at most 20 minutes tonight as he tries to get back into game shape after missing three weeks with a knee injury. Like any player who has been out this long, he must be eased back into the lineup. Even just 20 minutes of Whitmore on the court is a huge boost, considering his ability to put up a lot of points in a short time.

Coach Udoka also discussed what the Rockets’ Rockets would look like if Alperen Sengun returned this season.

Coach Udoka summed it up best: “It would be a good problem to have.” There isn’t a timetable for Sengun’s return yet, but with the possibility of the Rockets making the play alive and well, his chances of a return have increased since his injury. The Rockets, however, will not rush back Sengun, considering the severity of his injury, and do not want to run into the same issues they had with Tari Eason coming back too soon.

As mentioned earlier, the Rockets are looking for their 12th straight victory. They come into tonight’s game one back of the Warriors, who have won three consecutive games. The Warriors take on the Spurs on Sunday night.

Make sure to check back tomorrow morning, as I will have a full recap of the game. For the full pregame press conference, check out the

The Utah Jazz could look radically different in the span of four months. With the NBA Draft on the horizon in July, and the team teetering between contending and rebuilding, the team will ultimately have to make a choice. Go all in on some talent to help this core win now, or trade practically everyone who is 25 and older and start a full tank.

The Jazz are going to have to decide eventually which way to go, as it’s becoming unfair for everyone involved to deal with the uncertainty. Guys like Lauri Markkanen want to go to the playoffs, but may not get to do so in Utah if the team doesn’t commit to him. Likewise, the team may never get the truly talented rookies if they keep settling for picks at the tail-end of the lottery.

If the Jazz is serious about building through the draft, they’re going to have to part ways with Markkanen, as he’s too good to have a true losing squad. Plus, he’ll eventually leave anyway when it becomes obvious the Jazz isn’t serious about winning.

And normally, that idea haunts me. Losing Markkanen isn’t ideal, at all. Whether it’s for picks and players or not. Markkanen is truly that good and the team really could use him. There just hasn’t been a trade package that would get me excited for trading the Finnisher.

Until now, however.

According to Tim MacMahon, the Houston Rockets are not looking to wait around and build a team slowly. They want to compete and compete now and are willing to trade young players to make it happen. MacMahon even suggested that Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green could be traded sooner rather than later.

Should the Jazz trade Markkanen to the Rockets for Sengun and Green, that would be a trade worth making. Granted, it wouldn’t just be Markkanen, and it’s likely the team wouldn’t get draft picks back, but you could probably do a trade that sees Markkanen, Collin Sexton and maybe even Jordan Clarkson go over for the duo.

You’d have to get creative to make the money work, and you may need to send over a prospect on a smaller contract, probably Brice Sensabaugh, but the potential of a trade exists.

While Green has been up and down in his career, he’s got some upside, but the real get would be Sengun. he’s one of the best centers in the NBA and his arrival would really give the Jazz a foundational piece to build around. It may mean that the team moves on from Walker Kessler, but hopefully, that wouldn’t be the case.

This would absolutely go hand in hand, however with trading away other major names like John Collins. So there could be a scenario if Sengun works on his three-point shot, where he and Kessler share the court at times.