Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[mvossman]

I don't want to trade Kyrie. I'm comfortable with his value to the team, his salary is a bargain for a player of his ability, and I think he likes the peace he's found in the DAL world. And I'm not especially enamored of those players.

But I would do that trade, assuming it's those exact picks, and especially if Smith could be rerouted for another FRP as you suggest (and there would likely be matching salary player(s) to DAL). One plus is that it's a deal that probably also works at the deadline, as neither team is likely to be ducking some apron or hard cap. 

From HOU pov, Kyrie would certainly check a lot of boxes for them, not the least of which would be to make the roster more amenable to KD. And it's possible Kyrie would want to go to a contender, so there's that factor as well.

This strengthens my point.  If you don't want to trade Kyrie and are willing to pull this trigger, that tells me that this is probably way too much coming back.  If Kyrie is actually traded this offseason I think folks are going to be disappointed in the return.