Random Houston Rockets Trade Ideas - 2012-13

Uh, okay. There are maybe 20-25 guys in the league, tops, that constitute a "good value" at $15 mil. I seriously doubt that Jeremy Lin is going to be one of them.

 

IMO Morey should target JJ Hickson currently playing center in Portland would give Houston the rebounding & defense they lack at the PF position. He's also on an expiring deal but won't command as much as Paul Milsap or Josh Smith & is a team player unlike Smith, though I wouldn't mind any of them, just think Hickson may be easier to attain & seems like a Morey type guy.

Aldrich, Patterson, future 1st or Jones for JJ Hickson

Starting lineup: Lin, Harden, Parsons, Hickson, Asik
Reserves: Douglas, Delfino, Morris, Smith

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=agbnp4z

 

Here's a trade for the people here that thinks Lin has negative value:

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=a5pd3e5

Its kind of a win-win.
"Overpaid" Lin for extremely overpaid Biedrins.
Glue guy Parsons for high potential Barnes.
Elite defender with butterfingers Asik for Elite PG but injury prone Curry.

 

I'd love Hickson. He's only 24 averaging a solid double double in just under 30 mins a game, also has great athleticism. Yes only 24 but this is his 5th season so he would also bring a little bit of experience to the starting lineup. Him, Parsons and Asik would be one of the best rebounding and defensive front courts in the league imo.

With Aldridge Patterson isn't really needed though, they do need some backup though in there backcourt. Like the GM said, he wish he'd know they'd be competitive this year, he would of gotten better backups.

Delfino, Douglas and (Aldrich or Smith) Would help there bench out a ton. Considering Hickson is expiring they might bite on a package like that.

 

Would be reluctant to send Delfino but don't mind sending Greg Smith since Hickson could move to center when we go small. With Hickson expiring sending Portland Smith, Patterson, Douglas, 2nd rd pick would give them good backcourt depth off the bench along with Douglas expiring.

 

Delfino would be a must in a trade with portland, there backup 3/2's are terrible. Luke babbit is there best wing player coming off the bench...He's avg 4 points and 2 rebounds shooting 35%

 

There are a number of reasons why Portland isn't getting good or even decent offers for J.J. Hickson:

- Pretty useless for a number of years, for several teams, prior to winding up in Portland
- Will be an unrestricted free agent this summer
- Highly likely that he will cost an arm and a leg to re-sign, at least four years, $36 mil; somebody out there will be willing to pay this much for this guy
- Portland's owner is kind of a nut job, so it's hard to do business with this organization

My guess is that Portland keeps him for themselves and re-signs him to an extension. Portland is a playoff team with anticipated improvement from Damian Lillard and an upgraded bench.

I wouldn't waste time dreaming up Hickson-to-Houston trade ideas.

 

I was just trying to figure out a logical trade destination for Josh Smith and it's not easy. Atlanta wants draft picks, prospects (i.e., young players on cheap rookie contracts), maybe undervalued veterans signed to team-friendly contracts, and expiring contracts. The reason why Atlanta wants all of this stuff is because, as Rockets fans should realize (although many probably don't, which is weird), this is how you put together a good team, and this is especially how you position yourself to land a big name All Star guy when that guy becomes available. Atlanta also would like to be an appealing destination for Dwight Howard.

Josh Smith wants a max contract, and somebody is going to give it to him. So whoever trades for Josh Smith is going to be a team that intends on re-signing him to a max extension contract. This contract, like a large percentage of max contracts handed out to non-perennial All-Star veteran players (such as Smith), will almost immediately make Smith one of the league's worst contracts and most untradeable players, of course, which is why Houston is not a logical destination for Smith. Daryl Morey surely is not interested in giving Smith this contract.

However, I think that Houston can get involved here and, by being a third wheel, can walk away with an asset that IT wants but that Atlanta DOESN'T want (but, honestly, should want, but they're managed by Danny Ferry, who ran the Cavs into the ground while Lebron was there).

Milwaukee strikes me as a team that can put together a package that makes sense for Smith, with Houston's involvement. Houston would use its $7+ mil in current cap space to absorb a contract that Atlanta doesn't want. Houston would, in exchange for this contract, also toss in one of its three second (third?) tier prospects (Marcus Morris, Donatas Motiejunas, Terrence Jones, Royce White).

Here's what I came up with:

Josh Smith and filler/expiring contracts (Johan Petro, Anthony Tolliver) to Milwaukee

John Henson, mystery young/cheap Rockets player (either Marcus Morris, Donatas Motiejunas, Terrence Jones, or Royce White), and Beno Udrih (big expiring contract) to Atlanta

Ersan Ilyasova to Houston

Ilyasova has an excellent contract, can "stretch the floor," is highly efficient, is a strong rebounder, and is relatively young (only 25 years old, I believe). Also an excellent fit at the "power forward" position for Houston, and under team control for the next several years. And all Houston would have to give up is a second/third tier prospect. Ilyasova is a big upgrade over any of those four guys.

Milwaukee gets a big name guy although they will regret this deal within a year, most likely. Smith will get paid a lot more money than Ilyasova, and probably won't be any better than Ilyasova, really, plus, he's a prima donna. Oh, and he's a player whose game is reliant on athleticism, and the dude is 27 years old. The outcome is predictable and disastrous.

Atlanta gets two dirt-cheap young guys on rookie contracts to add to the core, or, more likely, to use as trade bait, along with its cap space and draft picks, to attempt to acquire a Dwight Howard or whatever other big name guy becomes available at some point over the next twelve months. This is the kind of return package that Atlanta is shooting for.

 

^the idea of Josh Smith, Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings chucking shots on the same team is super entertaining. As a bonus, this locks Indiana's division rival in mediocrity right when the division is starting to get very very talented. I like it, make it happen.

But there'd have to be much more going from Houston for Ilyasova. Parsons+?

 

i proposed this trade a week ago...but portland is going to keep the team together omo cause leonard is not ready yet to start

 

It could work Donuts gone

 

These two trades will make us better

josh smith for delfino (lou williams shooting replacement), ppatt, tjones and dmo

Aldrich for gerald henderson

lin, harden, parsons, smith, asik

douglas, henderson, morris, smith


but who knows

 

Why over-over-OVER-spend for Josh Smith when you can sign him with cap space in the summer and trade the other PFs for other players/draft picks?

Not that we'll go after Josh Smith, but some of you guys are reeeeeeeeaally overvaluing a player, almost as much as the player himself is ("I'm a max player"---Josh Smith).

 

I want Al Horford but the masses will outweigh you and I

 

but that's like a Hawks fan wanting Harden...

 

Here's a trade being proposed in SLAM Magazine...

http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2013/01/wheeling-and-dealin/2/

Interesting proposition but not a huge fan of giving up Parsons. Paul Millsap is potentially a nice solution for the 4, but with his expiring contract I'm not sure we couldn't just snag him in Free Agency instead.

That's assuming that Morey would WANT to eat Millsap's salary AND would want to take on Landry Fields.

Landry Fields at $6M/year is over priced, and his jump shot has been terrible for the last season and change. However, he did just have surgery for a nerve condition in his arm and his shooting appears to have improved somewhat, but it's very early to say.

On the flip side, Fields is decent defensively, a good cutter, and plays well in fast and uptempo systems.

As for Paul Millsap, his shooting would help considerably though his shooting this season is at a career low (despite an up tick from 3 point range).

The main concerns with Millsap would be how much he's expecting to earn this coming year ($7.2m this year on an expiring). I expect the minimum he'll be expecting is $10. And second is his defense (105 DRtg).

Losing Douglas is expected as he's an expiring and his skill set is eminently replaceable (there's always Beverly).

As for giving up TJones and Donuts, that's a harder call as we really haven't seen a lot of NBA play time for them.

Interested in some thoughts from others...

 

^^**** that ****, give Parsons and Motie to get back a guy who'll be a FA this summer + a bad contract?

I'll pass.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't mind Horford, especially if you gave Atlanta more cap room to steal Howard and CP3 this summer. But none of that'll happen.

 

Man not a good trade. instead of giving up Donuts and TJ i would give them 2pat and morris. then i like the trade.