Sure seems like Sean Marks and his Houston Rockets counterpart Rafael Stone talked a lot back at the beginning of this year … At least if you listen to reports out of Houston.

First there were the reports that at the February deadline, Stone offered Marks most if not all of the remaining first round picks Brooklyn sent Houston in the original James Harden trade ? plus Jalen Green ? for Mikal Bridges.

Now Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports that the month before, Stone had offered those same picks to Marks in exchange for the Phoenix Suns picks the Nets GM had acquired in the Kevin Durant trade!

Feigen, the veteran Rockets beat writer, quoted two sources in his report Friday…

Marks, reports Feigen, turned down Stone’s offer just as he has with the February offer of picks plus Green for Bridges.

To recount, at that point and now, the Rockets control the Nets unprotected firsts in this year’s draft as well in 2026 and first round swap rights in both 2025 and 2027.

The Nets on the other hand control the Suns unprotected firsts in 2025, 2027 and 2029 as well as right to swap rights in 2028, all of them seen as valuable assets considering the Suns recent woes despite their “Big Three” of KD, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.

But back in January, one might have seen the logic behind Stone’s purported offer. Phoenix was on its best run of the season going 14-2, and looking like an experiment that could work long term. Meanwhile, the Nets were in the midst of 3-14 stretch. With more than one pundit ? and a lot of fans? arguing for Marks to pull the plug and tank the season, re-acquiring their own picks could have made some sense. Since then of course, the Suns not only couldn’t sustain that January success but were swept in the first round by the Timberwolves, making the Nets pick stash even more valuable still. Indeed, Feigen reports Marks “quickly dismissed” Stone’s offer.

Not so fast, a league source tells NetsDaily. While everyone wants the Phoenix picks, the Rockets interest like the others was more hypothetical, that is less than real.

Feigen also reports that the Rockets who already have a roster filled with good young players want to move the Nets assets for players rather than draft prospects starting with the 2024 pick which currently sits at No. 9 in Sunday afternoon’s draft lottery.

• Houston Rockets enter Draft lottery with an eye on trading their pick for future assets ($) - Jonathan Feigen - Houston Chronicle