Yeah Troy isn't worth that salary alone if you ask me either, but still intriguing, just not enough.
No they can trade their pick in 2020, got a first going out to Atlanta this year, no future first obligations besides that unless it hit protections top 3 which aint happening.
I think it can be phrased appropriately and traded.
The problem is that, as long as the info on realgm is correct, the pick is protected for picks 1-3 all the way through 2023 and then unprotected in 2024. Now, we "know" that Houston isn't going to be in the lottery this year and the pick is like 99.99999% going to convey this year, but that's just not good enough. The league won't allow them to trade their 2020 right now, not the way it stands right now.
Now, it
might be possible for Houston to make a trade with Atlanta where they remove the protections on this year's pick. However, first-round draft picks can't be traded for money alone, there has to be another pick or player involved, I don't think Houston can simply try to pay Atlanta off in the "Hey, you
know this is conveying this year, we'll pay you $100K to remove the protections and auto-convey it this year so we can trade a future first" fashion. They could try some low-level player swap that's in Atlanta's favor in order to remove the protections. I don't know if there's a deal that would be worth it to them, though. It's a thought. But as it stands right now, they don't have a pick to trade, even though we "know" they pick to Atlanta will convey this year.
