Right. Phoenix needs a big upgrade at C and the obvious target is Omer Asik. I suggested something along these lines about a week ago: Omer Asik and filler (Luke Ridnour's expiring contract) to Phoenix Jeremy Lin and filler (Dionte Christmas) to Milwaukee Donatas Motiejunas, Ekpe Udoh, the rights to Kostas Papanikolaou, and a second round pick (from Houston) Spencer Hawes, Emeka Okafor (large expiring contract), a first round pick (from Phoenix), and a second round pick (from Milwaukee) to Houston Houston has added a very nice rotation player (Hawes) and has positioned itself to auction off a draft picks-Okafor package to the highest bidder at the trade deadline. Rajon Rondo is an obvious target but there will be lots of teams interested.
Possible targets for Houston (in exchange for an Okafor + picks package): Rajon Rondo Joakim Noah Amir Johnson Ty Lawson A really interesting idea would be an Amir Johnson-Kyle Lowry package in exchange for that Okafor + picks package. Lowry is a massive upgrade over Jeremy Lin and Johnson is a really good all around player. However, the more likely targets, in my opinion, are Rondo and Lawson. This Rockets team needs the kind of leadership/championship experience/swagger that Rondo brings to the table. But keep an eye on Lawson if Denver is looking like a team headed to the lottery come February 20.
Asik and Hawks a perfect fit As we close in on the Feb. 20 trade deadline, there will be increased chatter about trade rumors, hypothetical or otherwise. As is usual, many of the names mentioned will be of the same handful of players who are rumored to be on the block. As also is usual, many of these deals will serve the interests of one party, but not the other. To that end, we continue our series aimed to help examine some trade pairings and dissect the value delivered to the parties involved. This week, we look at the oft-rumored Omer Asik of the Houston Rockets, who made his wishes to be traded immediately following Dwight Howard's announcement that he was joining Houston. While the Rockets attempted to placate him (and rebuild leverage) by claiming they planned to play both players alongside one another, that proved to be a failed experiment. Houston tried to move Asik in December in an attempt to retain the ability to repackage assets received into a second deal prior to the trade deadline. However they were unable to draw a desirable enough offer (no doubt torpedoed by Asik's injury status). A deal is not expected to be completed until closer to the trade deadline, as Houston attempts to pit several offers against one another, using the deadline as an incentive for teams to ante up. The talks have begun to heat back up recently, so here's an in-depth look at what could be a perfect trade: Asik to the Atlanta Hawks. The player: Omer Asik Usually these scouting reports start with the player's offensive breakdown, but in Asik's case, he's such a defensive juggernaut that we'll begin there. At 7 feet tall, he is one of the premier team defensive anchors in the league, combining excellent size and reach with a high IQ forged and augmented by two years of playing in Chicago for defensive mastermind Tom Thibodeaux. Asik does an excellent job of keeping his head on a swivel and tracking the ball while staying in contact with his man at the same time. In the post, he'll fight his opponent off position and deny post entry, then will do a nice job of bodying up and contesting the shot without leaving his feet. He's not much of a shot blocker statistically (about 1.2 blocks per 36 minutes since joining the Rockets), but like many of the other contemporary defensive centers, he's mastered the art of "verticality," forcing the offensive player to finish over his outstretched arms without actively seeking the block. He's a very active pick-and-roll defender, with the requisite footwork to show hard on screens, forcing the ball handler to take an extra dribble away from the basket. He also is very adept at switching out onto the ball handler and moving his feet on the perimeter to prevent or delay dribble penetration (oddly enough, this attribute does not help him in recovering versus pick-and-pop threats, as he struggles to control close outs on shooters). Finally, he's an elite defensive rebounder (an essential element to finishing the defensive play), posting DREB% in the mid-to-high 20's consistently. For all of his defensive acumen, Asik is rather pedestrian offensively, lacking the ability to create his own shot, with no post game to speak of. He's at his best lurking on the baseline in the short corners and waiting for dump off passes from penetrating guards to catch and finish at the rim. He doesn't have the best hands in the world, so passes need to be accurate (hit him "in the numbers"), and he is much more comfortable gathering and going off of two feet rather than taking off from further out and going up off one foot. Similarly, in pick-and-roll situations he is much more effective as a delayed roll man; in other words, when the ball handler comes off the screen and keeps the ball for an extra beat, giving Asik time to get under the rim before having to catch and finish, rather than delivering immediately. Finally, it goes without saying that he is almost exclusively an at-rim threat, as 585 of his 614 FGA last year came within the restricted area. The team: Atlanta Hawks Atlanta has been a middling team thus far, hovering around the 0.500 mark (which, in the Eastern Conference, means a strong chance at the No. 3 seed). With a ton of financial flexibility (they are actually under the cap this season) and a solid pick inventory (own all of their picks moving forward, own 1st round pick swaps with Brooklyn in 2014 and 2015, as well as several second round picks), the Hawks are far from a finished product and stand to improve significantly with the right addition, especially in light of the season-ending injury to Al Horford . With Horford, the Hawks were an average defensive team, allowing 102.3 points per 100 possessions and rebounding about 75 percent of their opponents' misses. A deeper look shows they allowed 27.7 FGA at the rim, 10th highest in the NBA, while only allowing 11 FGA in the non-restricted area of the paint, suggesting that opponents are not being dissuaded from getting all the way to the front of the rim to attempt shots. Since Horford's injury, they are allowing 103.1 points per 100 possessions and rebounding only 72 percent of opponents' misses, with opponents attempting 28.2 shots at the rim and 10.6 shots in the non-restricted area of the paint. In essence, they are allowing more shots at the rim, rebounding misses less and conceding an extra point per 100 possessions. Adding Asik would shore up Atlanta's frontline in the short run during Horford's absence, while also giving them a possible long-term answer as a defensive anchor. The "other" team: Houston Rockets You might ask "if Asik is so great, why does Houston desperately want to get rid of him?" There are three reasons. First, they have an elite version in Howard, who brings much of Asik does defensively with the added benefit of being a scoring threat in a variety of fashions. Second, ideally an Asik trade can help clear his 2014-15 cap hit, giving them a little more breathing room to be able to make another splash in free agency. The final reason lies in his contract: Because Asik was signed away from Chicago using the Gilbert Arenas provision (a CBA mechanism designed to allow capped-out teams to be able to match offer sheets made to their Early-Bird restricted free agents), his actual cash owed in 2014-15 exceeds his cap hit significantly (almost $15 million cash versus $8.4 million cap hit). That's a luxury the Rockets would prefer not to pay for someone who doesn't figure to play much. The trade Atlanta trades: Elton Brand, Jared Cunningham, Pero Antic, and either the rights to Lucas Nogueira OR a 2015 1st round pick (lottery protected). Atlanta receives: Omer Asik, Isaiah Canaan. Despite the fact that Atlanta's short term payroll increases by $2.5 million, they are clearly ending up with the talent in the deal, which would probably preclude them from asking for cash considerations (although they might seek a protected future second round pick in return). Canaan is nice throw in as a volume shooting deep range threat who can provide some depth at the point guard position. For Houston, they don't really get that much better in the short-run: Brand is a serviceable backup veteran big, but isn't the floor spacing stretch 4 they are seeking; Antic can space the floor out to the 3-point line, but isn't much of a rebounding presence; Cunningham is an athletic combo guard who has struggled to find his niche in the league. The Rockets would also need to waive Robert Covington, who has yet to appear in a game, to create the extra roster space to make this deal; that'll cost them the $250,000 he's guaranteed next season. But the true value is in clearing the financial debt keeping Asik would entail, gaining that flexibility for next season, and scoring a nice future asset in Nogueria, an up-and-coming Brazilian big playing in the Spanish ACB, or a future first, if they choose to gamble on future draft classes. Standing in the way of this deal is Houston's desire to add someone who can be more beneficial to their short-term competitiveness. They'll be weighing an Atlanta offer against competing bids from teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, who will dangle stretch center Spencer Hawes' expiring deal, and will seek to create a bidding war with the trade deadline acting like the end date for an eBay auction.
Houston, Cleveland and chicago Houston Out: Lin , Asik In: boozer Chicago Out: boozer In: varejao Cleveland Out: varejao In: Asik Why we do it: get a pf who can post and be a 3rd or 4th best option. Get rid of a useless Asik and keep t jones as a bench spark plug. Also get rid of Lin and let bev brooks and Canaan be the pg rotation. We can prob go for canny once he's recovered too. Bev/brooks/Canaan Harden/Garcia Parsons/cassipi Boozer/jones Dwight/moti Bulls: get rid of boozer cuz they obviously aren't going far in the playoffs and or they can tank. With varejao his team option won't be picked up leaving chicago huge caproom to go for melo and extras. Lin/rose/hinrich Butler/dunleavy Varejao/Gibson Noah/nazr Cleveland: they aren't going to keep varejao past this season but they could keep Asik for another year and really try to make the playoffs. They aren't getting James so they have to atleast get a good center while they can. Irving/jack Waiters/jack/gee Deng/Clark Thompson/Bennett Asik/zeller
here is a trade that will pay off big time next year but is still solid this season too. Rockets: Asik, Lin, DMo, Garcia, Casspi and 2014 2nd round pick for Gillinari, Chandler, Foye and Fournier Better fits around Howard and Harden / THEN next year we get the perfect power forward in Gillinari Nuggets: Gillinari, Chandler, Foye and Fournier for Lin, Turner, Hawes, DMo and Anderson 2 2nd round picks Lin, looks at Turner and Hawes, Anderson less than a 1M (got some starts this year already...) 76ers: Hawes, Turner, Anderson 2nd round pick for Asik, Garcia and Casspi Asik and role players on friendly contracts for players that will walk at season's end http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=kc63puc (too many moving parts / will never happen)
Do you mean Danilo Gallinari? Isn't he more of a SF than a PF? Has he resolved the bulging disc problems in his back?
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=l82zwwr to Hou: Pau Gasol, Teletovic, rights to Bogdanovic, draft pick from Lakers to Lakers: Brook Lopez to Brooklyn: Dwight Howard Pau Gasol & Teletovic have been playing very well lately. Bogdanovic is a 6' 8" highly rated 2-3 prospect. Brooklyn won't do that trade though unless they get Lin which means the Lakers will have to get Pierce & the Rockets will have to get Nash. http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=mmpsxqh
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Celtics&src=hash">#Celtics</a> G Rajon Rondo, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Pelicans&src=hash">#Pelicans</a> G Eric Gordon and G/F Tyreke Evans could all be on move soon, reports <a href="https://twitter.com/Mitch_Lawrence">@Mitch_Lawrence</a> in his <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NBA&src=hash">#NBA</a> notes.</p>— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamAmicoFSO/statuses/424804398233952256">January 19, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>League executives expect Rajon Rondo to he moved within the span of now and the trade deadline with two potential destination being PHX&HOU.</p>— NBAMVP (@NBAMVP) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAMVP/statuses/424836416745381888">January 19, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-rajon-rondo-jeremy-lin-omer-asik-2014-195800356--nba.html
He is out for this season. Yes, he is listed as a SF but plays big, without the ball, and has an outside shot (spacing - more room for Howard to work on the post). He plays from the outside in - IF we need to go big for more help in the paint - we still have T Jones to match up with. KMH likes to go small so give him better players to go small with. Gallinari is worth the wait even if he only comes back at 80%. I like the return of Chandler, Foye and Fournier a lot this season and moving forward. Gallinari is just "icing on the cake". Denver would be the team that would say no in this trade, IMO.
I think Boston would find Phoenix's offer more attractive: Okafor's expiring contract & multiple first round picks, so they will tank better.
Bledsoe & Dragic worked as a backcourt. Why wouldn't Dragic & Rondo work as a backcourt? Because Bledsoe is injured, although I wouldn't expect they could keep all 3 players after this season.
Oh ok I got you, I see Angie wanting to deal with Houston unless he's getting dragic, if your going to rebuild that's great but still need to have a few pieces, teams like the magic, 76ers, bucks, in the east have had plenty of picks but still are going to be looking at no telling how many years to be an east abolished playoff team. Picks are something Angie already has. So I think think if he moves rondo he will be looking for one pick and players they can help now. Suns will be painting it have 3 elite PGs that doesn't make to much sense when they can upgrade at other spots
Trade him to Boston... I mean, right? This would be a great deal for the Suns. Rondo would give them the star they need, and, like the Rockets before the Harden deal, the Suns are in no mans land right now. Too talented (and well coached) to tank, but not having any players (except Bledsoe) who have the potential to really lead a team to be competitive in the playoffs. If they can convert some of their wealth of assets into a star, they will be set up to make some noise in the western conference.
Denver receives: Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik, Donatas Motiejunas, and a pick. Houston receives: Ty Lawson and Wilson Chandler.
