[ClutchFans] Podcast: Taking a look at Omer Asik Trade Possibilities

And make Portland even tougher? That trade helps them more than us and by a significant margin.

 

Everyone that says the team doesn't have any glaring holes is ignoring the fact that we need a wing defender.

 

In place of Parsons ?

 

Well, we need a wing defender, but that wing defender has to be overall a very good player, good enough to see the court when the game matters. Otherwise this player doesn't really help us much (see Ronnie Brewer).

In other words this player has to be as good as, if not better than Parsons, or versatile enough to be played over T.Jones. This type of players are essentially at least borderline all-stars.

 

The crappiest this player can be would be a Thabo Sefolosha, or a Tony Allen.

 

And make 14 million dollars a year, and are incredible hard to trade for. There is a perfect candidate out there if Morey is willing to buck up to get him in Deng. Love him or not, he's exactly what the Rockets need, and he doesn't supplant anyone else in the rotation other than maybe Casspi. Also, if Deng doesn't have a large role on this team, there is a good chance he leaves Houston to be a #2 or #3 option on a worse team next year.

However perfect players right now for the Rockets don't come without risk and cost. Deng is about as close to perfect fit right now if there ever will be one.

 

I don't think that the team needs anything right now. If Asik leaves, I would not mind having a good enough backup for Dwight. You can't leave that spot open because Dwight is a bit foul prone and it is difficult to play him in foul trouble.

I also think that Morey is right in demanding 2 1st round picks. There are teams in trouble that can provide them. Cleveland is packed with picks. I think they have at least two first rounders beyond their own. I recall Philly also getting some in the Jrue trade. Phoenix? I think Morey will get them in the end.

 

You can add Atlanta and Boston to that list.

 

This. Deng would add some great depth to this team and allow Parsons to move to the 4 on occasion. If you more or less subtracted Asik and added Deng if would still start Parsons but Deng like Lin would still get a ton of minutes off the bench. McHale would then have flexibility with Bev/Lin and Parsons/Deng for all sorts of looks, not to mention easing minutes in guys for a long playoff run. With the Bulls looking to move him before he leaves for nothing and Rose being gone id bet they'd trade him for a non lotto first rounder.

 

Any renewed talk of the potential Asik/Ryan Anderson trade since the Anthony Davis injury? I wasn't in favor of this trade before, but I'm starting to like the idea of how this would settle the PF position with Jones and Anderson and the versatility it would provide to matchup to different styles.

 

Right now... maybe the Rockets dont "NEED" another wing player like Deng... in May/June... I would argue that if the Rockets are at full health(meaning Howard doesn't have an injury), having a guy like Deng on this team is more impactful than Asik as a backup.

I get the whole "48 minutes of rim protection" argument.... and it makes sense if you are assuming the Rockets are going to be leading teams offensively through 36 minutes and need to sustain when Dwight goes to the bench at the start of the 4th, but if the games are closer than that throughout 3 quarters and the game is on the line you should be thinking about your core best 5 players, and their strengths and weaknesses as a unit in a tight game situation.

One thing you can assume that other teams the Rockets are facing in the playoffs have an elite, if not SUPER elite wing/guard (ALA Durant/Curry/Parker.. and that's just the West), and the Rockets really... REALLY struggle with their perimeter defense.

When the game is on the line in June... Asik will be on the bench... Deng would be in the game defending the best in the business.

Having Asik as a backup makes sense in the regular season. Having Asik as a backup in the playoffs... while it would be nice for that 10 to 15 minutes a night to help sustain "assumed" leads, doesn't make as much sense when you could upgrade a more pressing need with your unit that will actually be finishing tight games.

I'm all for getting that kind of a player if the deal is anywhere close because of this reason... However I think getting that kind of player is more difficult than one would assume. GM's know how important this type of guy is, and there are fewer in the league than one would assume.

(This also makes me think that maybe Igoudala really could have been an option this Summer in a S&T if Morey could have moved Lin & Asik for lower than market value. The Warriors sacrificed a few picks to move salary to sign Iggy. The Rockets should have been able to make this type of move for less to sign Iggy as well. Maybe instead of focusing on CP3, Josh Smith, or LMA, they should have been courting Iggy instead... its a revisionist history, but one that has to have a second thought now knowing what the Rockets weaknesses really are ending up being)

 

Of course we still need a wing defender! And the Celtics is where we should start: Bradley, Bass, Rondo are all great defenders to consider.

Also, be on the watch for Rondo (and more trade rumors). He's supposedly medically cleared to start practice today.

 

Nice post!
I see where you’re going with the wing defender over the 48mins of rim protection.

 

Agreed that Deng is probably the most logical target at this point.

Obviously, the closer Chicago gets to the trade deadline the less leverage they have. A team that's about to begin a major overhaul wouldn't dare risk losing a key player such as Deng for nothing. That said, a team in transition also isn't going to dump any draft picks (so DM can likely forget about his two first-rounder demand). Which leaves the notion of a traditional player-for-player trade.

I know this is an Asik trade thread; but to me, the obvious solution here is putting together some sort of Lin + filler package to offer to Chicago. Obviously, they're desperate for a PG and we need to sure up our defensive holes. Deng would improve this team in so many areas across the board at the cost of a reserve player. For a team in "win now" mode, I think this makes perfect sense.

 

Which might be why Morey is looking at draft picks for Asik rather than getting a major player back that CANNOT be flipped. Nobody out there is saying that the draft picks are necessarily for the Rockets. As for Lin, I dont think for a second that Lin WONT be available or be part of their plans going into the February deadline.

However I dont really see the Bulls as a target to accept either player from the Rockets. The balloon payment with their identical contracts was an issue for them a year ago, so you'd have to think they would want to stay away from it again even with Lin.

I would assume if Morey is able to construct it, I'd bank on multiple teams being involved in the deal sending some young pieces Chicago's way. I think Toronto is a team to watch here with a few young players that a team like Chicago might covet.

I would assume Chicago's MO going into the trade deadline is to build a younger competitive team that doesn't need to win right this second, and can grow together while Rose returns to form next year. Rose, Butler, Noah, Mirotic, Gibson will be their core moving forward, and I'm sure they'd like to have one more young talented player to add to that mix... most likely a wing or guard. Deng and Boozer seem to be the odd men out and would be better served on teams that can afford to have them as their 3rd, 4th, or 5th best player... like the Rockets, or OKC.

I think Noah stays and is kept on as their franchise big man. However, don't be surprised if they secretly dangle him in the case that a superstar talent becomes available.

The fact that Deng is probably going to leave at the end of the season in free agency certainly doesn't help his case as their #2 option again next year... just puts them in another win now bind, and too much loaded on Rose's back (or knees). Re-tooling around younger pieces for next year, and looking for a young player to come in and be their #2 offensive option makes perfect sense for a team like the Bulls.

 

Tim Mozgof and Wilson Chandler?

for

Omer Asik and Dmo?

 

Would be likelier if:

• Denver weren't suddenly killing it (6 wins in a row)
• Javale Mcknucklehead didn't already have a big contract

But I'd take that trade.

 

Well this here is your first problem, you can't just blink and skip the regular season entirely, you actually have to play through it to get to the playoffs. The NBA isn't a sprint, it's an ironman even followed by a no-holds barred UFC match: you bike, you swim, you run, and then the main even starts and you start slugging some dude in the face for 7 rounds. If you're superhuman like LBJ and you can play 40 mins every night at a high level then that's no problem, but for the rest of the players out there fatigue, injuries and burn out are real concerns. Chris Bosh, for example, was so worn out playing the C spot full time that he had nothing left in the most important game of the season and ended up scoring 0 pts in a game 7 Finals. We can't count on DH and Harden to carry us in the playoffs if we burn them out in the regular season, hence why guys like Asik and Lin are important to the team.

Secondly, "48 mins of paint D" isn't just a gimmick, the Rockets last season were competing with the best of the best and then start losing the game once Asik sat, because our team D went from pretty damn good to horrible once he sat down. The NBA isn't about one-on-one duels, it's all about which TEAM is better, and a big man does more good for team defense than a perimeter player. You can argue that Asik won't stop LBJ, KD and CP3 and that's true...but neither will Luol Deng. These guys are in a class of their own, you really think Deng can keep LBJ and KD from getting their points? At least Asik can also hinder all the other opponents from scoring easily as well, Deng can only bother one player at a time. Due to the lack of hand checking and contact, perimeter defense is more about hustle and smarts than actual talent, a guy like Parsons when motivated and focused can actually defend much better if he always had an elite defender behind him rather than you have Deng out there with D-MO as your center.

And finally, if your assumption is that the Rox will build a lead with Dwight starting, and they'll maintain that lead throughout 4 quarters with Asik as backup who do you think wins the game? Your argument is if the game is close then having Deng is better, but the fact is if you didn't have Asik and had Deng instead it might've been a blowout for the opponent, because once Howard sits down Miami or OKC or whoever will run away with the game. To me, trading Asik for two 1st rounders is more of a "win later" strat which is fine. But if we're serious about competing now, any Asik trade should include a defensive big who can play backup like Robin Lopez.

 

Wilson Chandler can probably be had w/o giving up on Asik. I would think the Nuggets don't mind Dmo or Smith.

 

I think these are valid arguments to my point, but the point is its all in theory, and there is give and take in any argument.

So making a trade to bring in a player like Deng who can actually help the team close out tough games comes with the caveat that yes.. you'd have a hole at the backup 5 where you'd then need to start looking at who you can bring in on the cheap or mid-level to give you 10 to 15 minutes a night of solid rim protection when needed. There are nights when you NEED to sustain defense in the middle, and the offense isn't clicking.

I'd say MOST nights though (especially in the regular season) you can however sustain leads going with a more robust offensive lineup coming off the bench such as Greg Smith or D-Mo at the backup 5 spot.

One of the things Morey always says is last year when Asik was out of the game, their defense was around the worst in the league... which is true on paper, but what Morey fails to mention is that their offense went through the roof at the same time. As a matter of fact the best offensive lineup the Rockets had last year, had Greg Smith at center coming off the bench and netted a +45.9 per 100 possessions. They gave up points at a much higher rate, but they were scoring at a much higher rate as well.

So while I would agree that its nice to have that defensive anchor coming off the bench, its replaceable AT TIMES with a smaller more offensive heavy lineup to sustain leads or make runs when down.

If you can get someone like an Okafor, (healthy) Camby, etc. to give you a situational rim protector, and upgrade with someone like Deng/Batum to give you top not perimeter defense late in games, IMO (again.. my opinion) that's a better option at this point. Add in the threat of Asik getting upset again if he's not traded and its a no-brainer.... of course assuming there is a deal available for a player of this caliber.

-If Morey opts for draft picks, you can rest assured this is just like getting store credit for a present you got at Christmas that you dont need. He'll turn that around in no-time for a player he really wants.