[Woj] Rockets finalizing deal to send Omer Asik to New Orleans

If Love is willing to resign in Boston, that might be what it takes (#6, #17, BKN firsts, Sullinger, cap relief). I'm just laying out the options.

 

It does seem unlikely Morey would deal Parsons before having a go at least at Lebron. But the nature of Parsons contract precludes an easy trade after June 30, so there's plenty of risk (and reward) involved.

 

Parsons, Jones, four first and two seconds? Are you a Minny fan?

 

This probably means Lin only haters are gone in a few days.

 

This Asik trade, as currently structured, will never happen.

Instead, it will become a part of a large mega trade.

 

That Lowry-ish 1st rounder has a lot of us thinking that it will be packaged as part of a deal for Love. I honestly don't see any other scenario.

I initially thought we could include it as an incentive for a S+T, but then I remembered: S+T no longer carry the advantages (for players) they used to. For example, under the previous CBA, we could perform a S+t with Miami for Lebron and potentially pay him the max salary Miami could offer. Whereas now he would be limited to the max salary we could offer, regardless of whether it was S+T or not.

Besides a deal for Love, I'd imagine we will just sit on it and keep it as a trade chip.

 

Why do you say that?



Let's step back and appreciate Morey again. He implemented the ingenious "poison pill" strategy, which has never been done before, to nab Asik from Chicago. It was still met with a lot of skepticism and it turns out Morey's analysis on Asik was on the money and he proved to be a very good starting center in the league. Now he flips him for a very good first round pick that will be a key cog in landing a third star. Unreal.

 

#6 >= Parsons
Sullinger < Jones
#17 > #25
BKN firsts >= NOP & HOU firsts
Cap relief = cap relief

If Love doesn't mind Boston and Ainge is willing to cash in everything for a superstar, then that's the sort of package it would take. If Love narrows his list down to contenders only, then feel free to take out Parsons (and hope Chicago only has eyes for Melo).

 

It is like he can perform miracles or summtin'

 

The deal
Pelicans get: Center Omer Asik and reported $1.5 million.

Rockets get: Protected 2015 first-round pick.

Houston Rockets : A-

The December 20 "deadline" for the Rockets to move Omer Asik is now six months past, and with the benefit of hindsight, Houston GM Daryl Morey did the right thing by waiting. It's now clear that having the cap space this summer to aggressively pursue free agents like Carmelo Anthony and even LeBron James is better for the Rockets than any of the players they could have acquired for Asik last season.
Moving Asik's $8.3 million cap hit (he'll actually be paid $15 million the way the contract he signed as a restricted free agent was structured) brings Houston one step closer to creating enough cap space to make a competitive offer for Anthony and James. The Rockets surely also know they can move Jeremy Lin in a deal they won't make until they need the cap space, according to Sam Amick of USA Today.

There was stronger impetus for moving Asik regardless of how free agency plays out. He chafed at a backup role behind Dwight Howard last season, and though Houston got some mileage out of pairing the two centers in the playoffs, Asik is more valuable on a team for which he can start. Additionally, while the Rockets might have to surrender a pick to move Lin, they were able to get a tasty one from the Pelicans in return for Asik.

Per ESPN's Brian Windhorst, the pick is protected in both directions, something Morey pioneered two years ago when Kyle Lowry went to the Toronto Raptors. New Orleans will keep it if it lands in the top three and also if it falls after No. 19.

Because the Pelicans will contend for a playoff spot, this isn't quite as valuable as the pick Houston got for Lowry -- one of the key pieces in the James Harden trade -- but it's likely to be better than any Rockets selection for some time to come. There's an outside chance dangling a possible lottery pick could get Houston back in the mix for the other superstar on the trade market, Kevin Love.

At worst, the Rockets dealt a center who was a luxury asset for them in exchange for a first-round pick while creating a trade exception in the process. (The exception disappears if Houston goes under the cap to sign a free agent.) At best, Houston took an important step toward adding a third star.

New Orleans Pelicans: D+



Assuming it ends up inside the 4-19 range, the Pelicans' 2015 first-round pick will be the third in a row they've traded, joining 2013 and 2014, which both went to the Philadelphia 76ers on draft night a year ago. This is a bad way to build a basketball team. First-round picks are valuable assets because they offer up to four years of cost-controlled production at rates that are, on average, far below market value. By contrast, the players New Orleans has acquired (Jrue Holiday last year, now Asik) are paid what they're worth, relatively.

As FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver once simplified, there are two ways to build a winning NBA team. One way is to pay more money than other teams. This avenue is surely not available to the Pelicans. The other is to be more efficient with your spending than other teams, and that's where first-round picks are invaluable. While there are bargains here and there, players on rookie contracts are the most reliably underpaid around.

Trading first-round picks shortcuts the process of competing, but it comes with a long-term price. New Orleans has the luxury of spending more on veterans now because of the league's best bargain, Anthony Davis' rookie contract. Davis will be paid $5.6 million this season, when he could emerge as one of the league's handful of most valuable players. The Pelicans get that bargain for only two more seasons, however. In 2016-17, Davis' salary will likely jump to the max, making it far more difficult for New Orleans to clear cap space. At that point, the Pelicans are going to wish they had reasonable rookie contracts to fill out their rotation rather than having to rely on scrounging for cheap free agents.

The shortcut might be worth it for a team designed to win now. That's not New Orleans, at least not in the brutal Western Conference. The Pelicans already figured to be one of the league's most improved teams next season, both because of Davis' development and better health after Holiday missed 48 games last season and super-sixth man Ryan Anderson missed 60. Asik will help that process, certainly. He's a vast improvement over the defensive-minded centers New Orleans played next to Davis last season: Alexis Ajinca, Greg Stiemsma and Jeff Withey.

Still, looking around the Western Conference, it's hard to see the Pelicans as one of the top four teams. There's even a chance, with more bad injury luck, they might miss the playoffs again. The last thing New Orleans needs is general manager Dell Demps sitting at the lottery again, hoping the Pelicans' pick leaps into the top three so they can keep it rather than sending it elsewhere.

The mechanics of this trade also make it somewhat more problematic for New Orleans. To swallow Asik's salary, they'll have to go under the cap after the new league year starts in July. That means the Pelicans must dump a contract (likely guard Austin Rivers), as well as renounce cap holds for their free agents (most notably, backup guards Anthony Morrow and Brian Roberts) and give up on the midlevel exception for the smaller room midlevel exception.

So after the trade, New Orleans will have seven players under contract and only the room exception ($2.7 million) to pay free agents more than the minimum. 2013 second-round pick Pierre Jackson will likely fill another spot, but the Pelicans could be woefully thin after their top nine players, making injuries a concern.

 

another Morey genius move

 

It benefits the Rockets to drag out the completion of this trade as long as possible to maneuver it into a multi-team sign and trade for Lebron/Melo/Bosh. That way the Rockets can stay over the cap and keep their exceptions. For instance,

Lin, DMo, 2nds to NYK
Asik to NOP
Melo, 1st to HOU

or

Lin, 2nds to GSW
Asik to NOP
1sts, DMo to MIA
Lebron to HOU

 

Yeah, people act like its easy to recreate what the Spurs have done. It ain't. This Spurs team we saw this year was the result of over a decade of continuity.

It's been proven that star power gives a franchise the best opportunity to win a championship.

 

Because of the timing and the salary cap.

The trade cannot happen until the Pelicans have cap space and the Pelicans most likely won't have cap space until July. So, the trade most likely won't go through until AFTER the July moratorium-- the period between July 1 and July 10 (or thereabouts), during which teams can negotiate signings and trades but cannot execute them until the time expires.

So, by the time this Asik deal is to be executed, Morey most likely has lined up another deal, hopefully one for a big $ player. If so, Morey will likely want to fold the Asik trade into this other deal because 1) it will give him more flexibility in terms of structuring how the salaries go among teams and 2) by acquiring players, including free agents, via trades (and sign and trades), the Rockets get to stay above the cap and make use of the full MLE and the BAE.

In fact, this trade as structured will most likely only happen if Morey strikes out on every player that he targets.

 

For those wondering about how the Pelicans are coming up with the capspace, rumors has it, they are making a different move in conjunction with this move. Take it fwiw.

http://www.pelicansreport.com/showthread.php?80900-More-Pelicans-Trade-Info

They're probably trading another big salary for a smaller salary and a 1st round pick, then absorb Asik's contract with the rest of their space.

 

That site sure struck out when they went for pelicansreport.com

 

D+ is a terrible rating. You pair Asik with Eyebrow and suddenly you have the best defensive front court on the planet. A+ all day.

 

The rumored move, if it's true, is going to make them a good deal worse depending on what happens in the draft. Obviously, that helps the pick the Rockets will have.

 

I'd love too see just how well NO fares with Davis defending Love on the 3pt line and Asik getting in foul trouble trying to defend Dwight

 

is there any way to get Love without giving up Parsons? I'd have to imagine that there would be...