Sounds about right but where's the love for Hayes who has stepped his game up even more since the deadline. He's become more vocal with Battier out and more of a leader.
The reasons I'd offer are: 1. Aaron Brooks (who was terrible this year) had his backup PG/SG minutes replaced by the much less terrible Dragic and Lee. 2. Jordan Hill, who was terrible before the trade, lost a good chunk of his minutes to the much less terrible Patterson and Chuck Hayes and Hill himself became less terrible. Here are a few pieces of data: Brooks: - Aaron Brooks played 811 minutes as a Rocket this year, averaging 23 mpg, the team was -104 during these minutes. - Goran Dragic played 184 minutes as a Rocket, 13 mpg, the Rockets were -8 during those minutes. - Courtney Lee played 1505 minutes as a Rocket, 18 mpg before the trade, 27 mpg after the trade, overall the Rockets were -9 during his minutes. - Lowry averaged about 36 mpg after the trade, 33 mpg before it. He has been scoring much more frequently and efficiently once the trade happened, though. Hill: - Hill averaged 18 mpg before the trade, 11 mpg after the trade. - Before the trade, the Rockets were -146 during the 900 or so minutes that Hill played. After the trade the Rockets were +18 during the 170 or so minutes that Hill played. Hill also saw his FG% jump from 47% to 57%. - Hayes was playing 25 mpg before the trade, 32 mpg after (though his increse in minutes happened earlier back in January). The Rockets were +165 overall in his minutes. - Patterson average 12 mpg before the trade (with a lot of DNP), 20 mpg after the trade, the Rockets were -2 overal lin his minutes. So, taking out players who seem to be hurting the team the most (Hill and Brooks had by far the two worse +/-) and giving their minutes to better players helps. Also helps, in Hill's case, to have really elevanted his level of play during the reduced minutes.