As the Houston Rockets enter the season, their loss of starting point guard Fred VanVleet to a potentially season-ending ACL tear looms larger than perhaps any other storyline.
Although the team plans to deploy some combination of Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard in order to fill this gap, it is quite probable that they will ultimately look to the in-season trade market to truly propel themselves back into championship contention.
However, the Minnesota Timberwolves, who currently have 38-year-old Mike Conley slated as their starting point guard, are also looking to contend, and, in order to do so, they and the Rockets might need to be fishing from the same, limited pond.