With the trade deadline approaching, which Rocket's player (or his contract) has the most trade value? And what would that value be? To quantify value use draft picks; ie: lottery pick (1-5), mid (7-11) and late lottery (12-16), late 1st rd (17-30), and finally 2nd rd pick. Random Examples Carmelo with extension = 2 lottery picks and a late lottery pick Non extended Carmelo = 2 mid late lottery pick. Luis Scola a top ten PF and one of the leagues best post scorer. Unfortunately while Scola is an adequate rebounder, he isnt a shotblocking presence nor a good post defender. Under contract for 4 more years for 40million dollar. At 30 yrs old Scola has little upside and is of little value to teams rebuilding. Shane Battier, despite being older (32) is still one of the leagues premier perimeter defenders as well as a good spot up shooter. Not only is Battier an effective player who would be of value to a playoff team or contender, he is also and expiring contract of 7.3 million. Aaron Brooks, was dynamic scorer and most improve player a season ago. Hindered by an ankle injury, lost of a starting job and a prolonged shooting slump, Brooks value is considerably less than just a few months ago. Still only 26 Brooks is still improving and as shown last season has significant potential and talent to be an effective and efficient scoring pg in the NBA. Unfortunately hes also an expiring contract in a slump and unlike Yao or Battier, the expiring contract serves to decrease his value rather not increase it. Kevin Martin, probably the Rockets best player this season. An extremely efficient scorer with a reasonable contract with 2 more years remaining at 12mil and 12.9mil per. Trade value hindered primarily by a reputation whether deserved or not, of having little significant impact to winning and not being able to defend effectively. Yao Ming while out for the year, is probably the most attractive of all, as not only is he an expiring contract of 17million, but whichever team trades for him would not have to cover the cost of his salary for the remainder of the year, as it would be covered by insurance. In essence hes a 17million dollar trade exception with some name cache. IMO Yao would probably net the rockets the most from a team like the Sixers or Nuggets (high payroll as well as perhaps rebuilding). Yao's contract = (2) mid/late lottery picks Kev Martin = (1) mid lottery pick Battier = (1) late lottery pick Scola = (2) late 1st round pick Brooks = (1) late 1st round (1 pick
It probably is Kevin Martin, but for some reason I cant seem to fathom the market offering more than what cap strap and luxury taxed team would offer for Yao's contract, especially if its Philly with Elton Brand or Washington with Lewis or the like. Most likely im just underestimating the market for Martin. umm... ok... thanks for the imput.
The cumulative effect of a trade package is more likely to yield better results than any individual player in my opinion.
Oh and the reason i have Brooks value so low ironically is not because he isnt a valuable or attractive player, but rather because he is. The fact that he is an expiring contract IMO greatly hurt his value for the Rockets in term of trade. For instance, according to rumors, Sacramento and Minnesota are highly interested with Brooks, however, why would either team offer the Rockets much beyond highly protected 1st round pick (making it essentially late lottery or late 1st rounders) for Brooks when they can sign him for free this summer. Neither team are playoff contenders nor are they in a rush for help this season. I guess they would get the added benefits of having the rights to match any offer for Brooks in free agency if they trade for him mid season which would be valuable if they either thought Brooks would be hard to sign come free agency or that the Rockets were likely to match any offers.
This time of year some teams are looking for one player who might put them into a legitimate championship hunt. IMO, Scola is such a player as is to a lesser extent Battier.
