[CHRONIC Solomon] Best advice for Rockets? Avoid trade

If it's been posted, please lock it up.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6841105.html

Now what do you think of your Rockets?

A championship is out of the question, unless a historic run is in the offing.

Their making the playoffs is questionable unless they right themselves soon — with a little more offense and a lot more defense.

Unless the Rockets do something dramatic in the next couple of weeks, the most asked question in May might be: Did they do all they could to avoid a wasted season?

No stars? No hope? No sellouts?

No reason to freak out.

With Tracy McGrady exiled, the Rockets are sitting on a hefty expiring contract that is among the most desired in the NBA. Teams from coast to coast would love to trade their undesirables for the Rockets' unwanted.

Let 'em beg.

The Rockets should stand pat, stay put, or whatever phrase you prefer that translates to their not doing anything out of a sense of desperation because of recent poor play.

My favorite is hold whatcha got there. (My daddy taught me that one.)

Sometimes the smart thing to do is nothing.

If the Rockets, 24-21 and just three games out of the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, were going to do something, I could give them a list of some 20 players for whom they should be trying to work a trade.

But if Daryl Morey put a “trading” block on his phone so that he received calls with proposals involving only those players, he would have a slew of unused minutes.

Oh, he is undoubtedly getting calls from teams willing to take out the Rockets' garbage. The problem is they want to leave a couple of bags of trash behind. And some of those stinking piles of you-know-what would be around (costing the Rockets money) next year and beyond.

McGrady for the 76ers' Andre Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert? That doesn't pass the smell test.

I don't have a dollar in the race, but I might cringe every time Les Alexander had to sign checks that added up to $12 million a year for the likes of Dalembert. Dalembert, an athletic 6-11 center who delivers about eight points and 10 rebounds a game, would be the extra trash in a deal with Philadelphia for the sometimes-spectacular Iguodala.
Risking Les' money

And yes, Alexander would have to sign a check every 1st and 15th, because direct deposit isn't allowed on such deals. There is some silly government regulation about needing regular written proof that you actually agreed to such a deal. (The unofficial word is Kelvin Cato used to have to go to Alexander's house and take a picture with his handwritten-in-red-ink check every Friday.)

Iguodala would bring something the Rockets need — an explosive scorer on the wing. He is more consistently dangerous offensively than any player on the Rockets' roster. But at some $14 million a year for the next four seasons, Iguodala, without improvement, is likely to soon be overpaid as well. (He'd be knocking on Alexander's door to collect $16 million in 2013-14.)

In a way, if the Rockets bring on a funky contract or two just to get rid of McGrady's deal, his scent will linger for years.

Let's not mention the luxury-tax implication of adding money to the payroll, or that Luis Scola and Kyle Lowry will be due for raises at the end of the season. Do you want to risk losing Scola to add Iguodala and Dalembert? Didn't think so.

Just hold whatcha got there. There will be ups and down during the season, and the team is in a down right now, having lost eight of 12 games in 2010.

But it makes sense for the Rockets to ride out McGrady's contract and build on what they have in the offseason.

They have one of the best big men in the game joining the team next season. Some guy named Yao Ming. With $23 million freed up from McGrady's contract, a big splash might be made, but at the very least Morey will be able to add a top-level complementary piece or two.
Look to free agency

He'll shoot for the stars but probably settle for the moon. Most likely the Rockets will be better with what they can get in free agency (and the draft, especially if they fall into the lottery) than what they could get via trade in the next few weeks.

Eventually — the trade deadline is Feb. 18 — Morey will get calls involving offers that might tempt him to think more about today than tomorrow. Now is not the time to get cute. Something tells me he is smart enough to have a “trade” block on his phone to keep him from making a mistake.