Random Houston Rockets Trade Ideas - 2012-13

Okay I'll give you that, but consider this from your list of our players:

Aldrich = expiring contract probably @ end or close to end of career
Delfino = role/bench player. Done well for Rockets, but not a high pts per min guy like Ginobili.
Patterson = Could have upside, but probably never an all-star maybe a borderline starter?

What kind of picks do we have to give them and what players would you be willing to give up and the Kings would also want? The reality is you would probably have to blowup this team to get DMC alone. He's a raw talent who could turn into Garnett, but could also be a flop if he doesn't get his head straight.

 

Well, back in '08 Durant and Westbrook weren't Durant and Westbrook and OKC weren't a good team yet, so I still suspect you would've had a similar idea...

 

just to clarify, i wasn't being serious/literal there, i was just having a little bit of fun trying to re-imagine that trade idea in '08..

 

It's confirmed, then, that Memphis would be interested in trading Zbo for Harden. Pull the trigger, Morey, and land a real star player.

 

Clearly, Chris Vernon was being sarcastic there. As in "you are going to get LeBron for who? Kwame Brown?". No way they give up a player like ZBO for a perennial six man.

 

I think it's more of a the only guy they have of value is Harden and they just got him for a whole bunch of assets so they're not going to trade him. I don't think it was meant to say Harden is worthless.

 

No. For Javaris Crittenton, Kwame Brown and the rights of Sergio Llull.

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=bh9z9pq what about this?

 

Not sure about ZBo, he might just end up slowing down the team in general(not because he is slow but because his post up play just demands a moderate pace) and the rockets in turn will probably struggle to fit him. Sure he will add to the rebounding and give us that much needed defensive anchor, but his jumphsot has become more of a liability in recent years and though you could overlook that for his post play, the rockets need a player that can knock down the mid-range jump shot if they are going to trade any of the current pieces(i.e. parsons, delfino, douglass etc.). In my opinion, slowing down the pace to let Zbo "go to work" is not an ok solution.

 

Two trade ideas!

Trade #1: PG upgrade

At some point, I think the Rockets need to concede that Jeremy Lin is never going to be an above average starting NBA PG. I think he may wind up being an average starting NBA PG, we'll see.

The one undervalued PG out there who may be obtainable is Jose Calderon. Note that the Toronto Raptors were arguably the worst team in the entire league before two things happened more or less simultaneously: a) the terrible Andrea Bargnani got hurt (or "hurt") and was replaced in the rotation by non-terrible players, and b) Calderon emerged as the starter.

Calderon is an outstanding shooter. 46.9 FG%, 42.8% 3P%, 90.2 FT%. Outstanding assist-to-turnover ratio, as well. 7.6 assists/game vs. just 1.7 turnovers/game.

In addition, Calderon is a free agent at the end of the season, and will be 32 years old when the 2013-14 season begins. This means that nobody is going to want to give him more than maybe a three-year deal, and I doubt that anybody is going to want to pay him more than an average of, say, $6-$7 mil/year. He is highly undervalued, in other words.

Would Toronto be willing to swap Calderon for Lin, straight up? If they were a well-managed organization, the answer to that question would obviously be "No." However, Toronto, under Brian Colangelo, is one of the worst-managed teams in the entire league, and ownership does not appear to care, as evidenced by the facts that a) he still has a job and, even worse, b) is being allowed to make major longterm commitments to mediocrities such as DeMar DeRozan and Landry Fields.

It should be pointed out that it might make more sense for a third team to get involved here, as Toronto may believe that it already has its "PG of the future" in Kyle Lowry. In other words, Calderon winds up in Houston, Lin on a mystery team, and x (x = a player, or players, and/or a draft pick) in Toronto.

Who might be interested in acquiring the relatively inexpensive Lin? It would be a team that a) doesn't have a "PG of the future" (or present) already, b) is poorly managed (and therefore believes they are landing a bargain in Lin), and c) values Lin's marketability.

Who might this mystery third team be? Here are some possibilities:

Atlanta
Charlotte
Dallas
Milwaukee
Sacramento
Utah

Atlanta seems intent on entering the 2013 offseason with as much cap space as possible, so I think they're out. Charlotte seems unlikely as Michael Jordan presumably wants to acquire a bigger name (e.g., Rudy Gay) or instead stay the course and sit on his 2013 cap space (and he may believe that Kemba Walker > Lin). Mark Cuban strikes me as a guy who wants to land a bigger/better name between now and this summer, so I think Dallas is out. The Kings organization makes no sense because they have just been sold in recent days, and will be moving to Seattle; this means that a new management team will need to be in place before this sort of bold move gets made, and a new management team is unlikely to be in place prior to the February trade deadline.

The two best bets appear to be Milwaukee and Utah. Milwaukee makes sense if Bucks management determines that Brandon Jennings is a decent bet to be overpaid this summer (when he'll be a restricted free agent); a trade for Lin likely means that Milwaukee turns around and ships off Jennings to a team that believes he's a good enough starting NBA PG (and who's going to want to sign him to a four- or five-year extension this summer). Utah might make the most sense, as the Jazz have nobody on the roster who appears to be "PG of the future" (or even "PG of the present") material. Also, don't forget that the Jazz fan base is as home-spun and conservative as an NBA fan base is going to get, and Lin is a devout Christian. If the Jazz can get Lin, and all they have to give up is, say, Alec Burks and expiring contracts, I think they pull the trigger.

Utah might also prefer Jennings to Lin, and Milwaukee may prefer Lin to Jennings, in which case we'd be looking at a four-teamer: Lin to Milwaukee, Jennings to Utah, Calderon to Houston, and a mystery player (or package, anyway) to Toronto.

Proposed Houston-Toronto-Utah three-way trade:

Jose Calderon to Houston; Jeremy Lin and filler (Quincy Acy) to Utah; Alec Burks and an expiring contract (Mo Williams) to Toronto.

Proposed Houston-Toronto-Milwaukee-Utah four-way trade:

Jose Calderon and filler (Quincy Acy) to Houston; Brandon Jennings and an expiring contract (Beno Udrih) to Utah; Jeremy Lin and Patrick Patterson to Milwaukee; Alec Burks and an expiring contract (Mo Williams) to Toronto.

In response to those who think that Calderon is "too old," I say: "Zzzzzzzzzz."

Let's go with the three-teamer (Houston-Toronto-Utah). That one makes the most sense to me for all three parties.

Trade #2: Frontcourt upgrade

This has been discussed previously. Phoenix is terrible. Phoenix wants to get something valuable for Marcin Gortat. Morey presumably sees Gortat as a classic Moneyball player. Also, obtaining Gortat means that Houston would still have enough money this offseason to go after another big money guy, e.g., Paul Millsap.

Proposed Houston-Phoenix swap:

Gortat and filler (Sebastian Telfair's expiring contract) to Houston; Donatas Motiejunas and Patrick Patterson to Phoenix.

Phoenix drastically reduces its 2012-13 payroll, thereby creating a fair amount of cap space. Phoenix presumably uses this cap space to pry away an asset or two from teams looking to dodge the 2012-13 luxury tax (e.g., Chicago).

Revised 2012-13 Rockets roster

Starting lineup

PG Jose Calderon
SG James Harden
SF Chandler Parsons
PF Marcin Gortat
C Omer Asik

Key reserves: Carlos Delfino, Greg Smith, Patrick Beverly, Marcus Morris

End of the bench (little or no P.T.): Cole Aldrich, Toney Douglas, James Anderson, Sebastian Telfair

Developmental league: Terrence Jones

Suspended without pay: Royce White

 

I hate to seem like I'm only trying to defend Lin. All I'm trying to say is that with Harden we don't need a star PG. Even with Lin scoring only 12ppg we have the highest scoring backcourt and probably are in the top 5 or 10 in assists from a starting backcourt. Our main weakness is elsewhere.

Harden needs the ball in his hands which means taking the ball out of your PG's hands. Without the ball in his hands a PG is just a spot up shooter and part time playmaker. You might as well get Nate Robinson to play with Harden.

I dont think any of the top playoff teams last year had star duos in the starting backcourt. You could argue OKC with Westbrook and Harden, but Harden wasn't starting because as above he needs the ball and Westbrook also needs the ball too.

We need to spend assets or caproom on PF and strengthening our bench with great 3P shooters or good all around players like SAS. Even if we got CP3 as a FA he wouldn't make our PF's any better. He wouldn't make Asik a better finisher at the rim. Or turn our bench players into LAC quality guys. We'd have the greatest ever, but other parts of our team would still be below par.

 

*correction

 

You're basically making the argument for Calderon over Lin here, you realize that, right? Calderon is a better shooter than Lin, a more capable ballhandler, and will likely be cheaper than Lin, as I think Houston could re-sign him to a two-year, $14-$16 mil or three-year, $21-$24 mil extension. And he's better than Lin, and a better guy to pair with James Harden.

 

Lin's salary averages to $8M/year. If Harden is okay playing with Lin then what's the point of rocking the boat? People say Calderon doesn't play D and Raptor fans have hated him for years while some Rockets fans hate Lin only after 40+ games.

We need to fill the other needs of the team first before we waste any time trying to upgrade PG.

 

Why do some people want Gortat?? He's not going to make this team too much better...

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=b9t4hcy

Houston out - lin/motie/ppat/ny2nd/lac2nd
Houston in - reddick/millsap/watson

Orlando out - reddick/jameer/jones/(one of its many 1sts)
Orlando in - lin/moWill/motie/lac2nd

Utah out - millsap/watson/moWill
Utah in - jameer/ppat/jones/whichever 1st from orlando/lac2nd

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=bjvrk6y

Lin and Morris
...For...
Raja Bell, Randy Foye, Alec Burks

Lin COULD be just what they need with all their bigs that can finish paired with Hayward, Morris (spacing).

Foye would fit with Hardin well, IMO. Burks --> RGV for the now. Bell just walks.

 

That's a horrible trade for us. At least Lin has potential, Bell sucks, Burk sucks, and Foye is just a jump shooter.

 

Give McHale a chance to be successful.

Lin for Pau.

 

its a horrrrrible deal for rockets... raja Mr. unhappy(although i defend almost all positions) bell an expiring underperforming foye and an unknown prospect in burks for a potential all-star and marketting machine in Lin and a solid role-player/starter in morris.. it makes zero sense unless your an LOH... and i dislike lin more than i like him, so that says a lot...