Could the Rockets have a date sensitive trade on the table?

By this I mean, are they trading a player away, or trading for a player, that can't be traded until some future date?

With all the silence coming from the Rocket's organization, our unaddressed holes at the PG/Center positions, & Doc Rocket's hint of a trade from out of nowhere, could the Rockets have a deal on the table that is date sensitive?

I'm sure we can all agree that McGrady is off limits. So, that would leave Howard/Gaines/Lue as the only other players that can't be traded in a package deal until September 1. It's been reported that the Rockets love what Howard brings to the team. In fact, Howard might be the perfect PF for this team. However, if the right deal were being offered, I'd be willing to bet that they'd trade him.

With Yao & McGrady being untouchable, that doesn't leave us a lot of trading chits, but we do have some. The TE, Howard, JJ, Gaines, Lue, Nachbar, Piatkowski, & yes, Taylor are all viable trading chits & would have some value to another team. Taylor's contract probably offsets any value that his talent would get us. So, it's probably in our best interest to keep him until his contract expires.

If we pray, cross our fingers, & wish real hard, the recent Pike/filler for Mutombo trade rumor will get done. That'd fill our backup center position.

Now, back to the subject of the original question.

The speculation of trading for Antonio Daniels has been beaten to death on this board, but could very well, still be a possibility. With the recent signing of Jones by Miami, it would seem that Seattle would not want to trade Daniels anymore. But, it all comes down to what direction Seattle wants to go (Well, duhhhhh! )(Sometimes, I amaze myself with my brilliance.).

If they are planning on starting Ridnour (in spite of his struggles in the summer leagues), perhaps they'd be looking to trade for a veteran backup PG like Lue as insurance.

Another question to ask is, what are they planning on doing with Rashard? His contract expires at the end of the year & you have to think that he's going to at least listen to the Rocket's offer (assuming they can make him one). It was reported earlier on, that they might entertain the idea of trading him, since Radmanovic is more of a SF & is ready to take his game to the next level.

Anyway, this brings me to a trade idea that I've been wondering about.

Houston sends JJ/Howard/Lue/TE to Seattle.

Seattle sends Rashard/Daniels/Fortson to Houston.

Fortson could be traded now (instead of Sept. 26th), because he would be getting traded for the TE, which would in essence, be a seperate trade all together.

Rashard would give us a solid 6'10" SF, which would allow us to play 6'8" McGrady at the SG position. Talk about mismatches.

Daniels would give us a solid PG with defensive skills & a very nice shooting touch. We could sign Ward to be his backup.

Imo, Fortson is more of a half court player & would be a nice compliment to Yao. While he's a little short (6'8" 260lbs.) for PF, he's a rebounding demon. He'd be able to give us back some of what Cato did for us.

If we trade Pike/Griffin for Mutombo & pick up Ward & Jon Barry, our lineup could look like this:

C: Yao/Mutombo
PF: Fortson/Taylor/Spoon
SF: Rashard/McGrady/Nachbar
SG: McGrady/J.Barry/Gaines
PG: Daniels/Ward/Wilks(IL)

There are probably several other scenarios out there. These are just some idle thoughts from an idle mind.

 

I need to make a correction on my original post. As it turns out, Rashard's contract doesn't expire after next year. However, he does have a Player's Option that would allow him to walk away from Seattle for nothing. Does that scenario remind you of another trade that was made recently? What if Rashard quietly, behind the scenes, told Seattle he wanted to go to Houston?

Fantasy? Most likely, but you never know.

 

Why not?

Howard is a solid PF that can score & rebound. He's averaged 17.8 ppg & 7.4 rpg for his entire career & he's only missed 8 games in the last 5 years. Seattle is in desperate need of a PF & just traded for Fortson. They also tried to sign Howard when he was a free agent.

JJ gives them a veteran player that still has a lot of game left. He's a solid defensive player, a very good rebounder, & can shoot lights out. He's versatile & can play both the 2/3 positions. He's also a good ball handler & could play the PG position if need be.

Lue gives them a veteran PG to backup Ridnour as he grows into the starter that Seattle envisions him being.

Rashard, Daniels, & Fortson all have Player Options after next year. Fortson is the only one that is unlikely to opt out of his contract. If the Rockets have made Howard available to Seattle, they get a player that is ½ a million dollars per year cheaper & has been much more productive over the last few years. Trading Rashard away allows Seattle to shift Radmanovic to his more natural position at SF & insert Howard at PF.

With the TE that Seattle receives for Fortson, they could send a package of TE/Ray Allen/Jerome James/#1 pick to Toronto for Vince Carter/Alvin Williams/Murray.

This would give Seattle a retooled team of:

C: Swift/Potapenko
PF: Howard/Collison/Evans
SF: Radmanovic/JJ
SG: Carter/R.Murray/L.Murray
PG: Ridnour/A.Williams/Lue

If Swift turns out to be as good as projected, that'd be a solid team.

Now, if you did a 3 team trade with Houston, Seattle, & Toronto, Seattle could redirect Lue to Toronto, instead of giving up a #1 pick.

 

I'm not sure I'm following you here. Are you talking about Howard, or Rashard?

If it's Howard, 17ppg/7rpg from your PF isn't worth $5.4 million in the NBA these days? Imo, that's cheap for that kind of production.