Marc Stein of Substack reported Houston’s interest in an incentive-based deal that The Athletic can confirm, but there are caveats to this. For starters, this is not a situation where Houston is interested in Westbrook. Both parties have already been down that path and are at different places respectively. The Rockets are only interested in finding a solution for Wall’s situation. Westbrook would likely never suit up for Houston in that instance. For a deal to get done, Houston would have to be enticed by an aggressive Lakers approach — one involving either a third team or suitable additional assets — to make it work. Houston would require the Lakers’ 2027 first-rounder in such a deal, sources tell The Athletic, but it’s unclear how willing the Lakers are to put that on the table.