Rockets trade Dalembert, #14 to Bucks for #12, Shaun Livingston, Brockman, Leurer

Another day, another trade by the Rockets. In a further piece of draft-day positioning, Houston sent Samuel Dalembert and the 14th pick to Milwaukee for the 12th pick and three reserves: guard Shaun Livingston and forwards Jon Leuer and Jon Brockman.

Houston has definitely ventured into the "taking risks" territory with this move. Minus Dalembert, the Rockets are without a starting center and have no certain means of getting one (although obviously all of that is moot if they can parlay their growing asset stockpile, which also includes picks 16 and 18 and two first-rounders from last year, into Dwight Howard).

Nonetheless, they were never intending to keep Dalembert, which is why his contract was only guaranteed for $1.5 million this season. In return the Rockets get three players who count a combined $5.3 million against the cap if they keep them. While Livingston and Leuer are useful, underrated reserves who got lost in a deep Milwaukee rotation, each can be waived to create more cap room.

It's worth noting that the Rockets now have five non-guaranteed contacts on their books, and by waiving all five and renouncing Marcus Camby and Courtney Lee, they can create $14 million in cap room at the snap of a finger. This space is most likely to be used in a trade, not in free agency -- they could take on Hedo Turkoglu from Orlando, for instance, as part of a Howard deal.

And while Livingston can't be put in another deal until late summer, Houston can trade him alone as a side deal to a blockbuster -- one obvious example is for Orlando's Chris Duhon, because their salaries match up and Livingston's deal is only guaranteed for $1 million. Moreover, there doesn't appear to be a "guarantee" date on Duhon's deal, which means the Rockets will have this option open for as long as they need it this summer.

From Milwaukee's end, it's hard to argue with this one. Despite moving down in the draft, one can argue this trade will result in a better player. The Bucks felt tremendous pressure to reach for a center like Meyers Leonard or Tyler Zeller at No. 12, but now that they have one, they can go back to a "best player available" mentality. I'm also told the Bucks think the player coveted by Phoenix, which picks No. 13, one spot ahead of them, isn't on their radar. If that's true and the Suns don't trade the pick, it means there's even less harm in moving down.

Dalembert is a useful starting center, even if he can frustrate with his inconsistency, lack of feel and maddening refusal to put his hands up on defense. He's long, moves well, runs the floor, shoots decently from short range and is a very effective rebounder. Between Dalembert, Ekpe Udoh and Larry Sanders, they've got the center position covered now and can play Drew Gooden at his natural power forward spot.

Additionally, the Bucks didn't take on much money to do it. They can now re-sign Ersan Ilyasova and Carlos Delfino without going into the luxury tax if they choose to, or take things in a different direction and go under the cap by several million. Milwaukee's books also remain very clean going forward since Dalembert is on an expiring deal.

In a vacuum, I like this deal a little bit better for Milwaukee. But this deal wasn't done in a vacuum. The Rockets are accumulating high draft picks with a bigger end-game in mind. Thus far, they've surrendered a starting center and a productive wing to get there, and we may not know if it was worth it for a while yet.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8105087/nba-houston-rockets-stockpiling-picks-big-trade

 

HUGE HUGE Shaun Livingston fan. I hope we give him a chance. I wish we could have got Larry Sanders instead of Brockman and Leuer.

On the other hand Jon Leuer and Jon Brockman are great 3rd stringers. These two guys absolutely crap all over Jeff Adrien and Greg Smith.

8 out of 10.

 

Look at this tool for the Nets...


Stefan Bondy: Here's the Rockets' main problem: they play in Houston. about 6 minutes ago

Read more: http://hoopshype.com/twitter/media.html#ixzz1z2Xdz1hD

 

It's true, if our goal is Dwight.

 

Ignore him. If you tweet him or follow he'll get his hits. Deny him and he'll go away forever.

 

And Paulftsk faints


Is it just me, or does it look like Paul is biting Sammy D's finger?

 

Good trade. They gave themselves a way out to trade lowry by getting livingston. Solid,I'm sure he has more moves to make.

 

I know I'm late but these are my thoughts:

1st: I hope Jon Leuer is a keeper as so many as you seem to believe. If he isn't, I know a better way we could have gotten the number 12 pick - simply don't sign Dalembert in the first place.

2nd: Now that we own the 12th, 16th and 18th picks, do you guys think it's possible we trade all three for Eddie Griffin?

 

You want the undercover brother or the dead guy?

 

I doubt he's far from finished.

But seriously do you know how hard it is to trade x player for a top 20 pick? Let alone that player being a 2nd freakin rounder and the other being an aging center that brings back-up skill to the table.

Even if we're done and only trade up in the draft as a result, all this maneuvering has been quite entertaining and ingenuis on the part of Daryl and Co.

 

I'm just reminded of the last time we had three mid-first round picks.

 

Look where he is pointing his bottom hand at.

 

My first or second post on clutch city.com was regarding Mr. Griffin.

 

Something else is going to get announced today. It has to!

 

So this is my guess of Morey's strategy:

Trade Budinger for #18.
Trade #14 + Dalembert for #12.
Trade #12 + #18 for #10.
Trade #10 + #16 for #8.
Trade #8 + Martin for #6.
Trade #6 + Lowry for #4.

This is called Inching Up.

 

You can do it! Get that player we're all looking for!

 

I like it. We will be getting a center tomorrow, one way or another so Dal could go, the extra guys help fill out our bench which will be gutted in some fashion by tomorrow night.

 

This picture was taken shortly before Paul asked Dalembert to compare the veins on their respective shafts.

 

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1h Alex Kennedy‏@AlexKennedyNBA

If the Houston Rockets aren't able to acquire Dwight Howard, sources say they'll attempt to trade for Rudy Gay or Josh Smith

 

Which means the trade is very much open.