Feb. 20: Houston shuffles power forwards According to reports, the Rockets send center Cole Aldrich, guard Toney Douglas, forward Patrick Patterson and cash to the Kings in exchange for forwards Francisco Garcia, Tyler Honeycutt and Thomas Robinson, and send forward Marcus Morris to the Suns in exchange for a second-round pick. Houston: B+ As of Tuesday, the Rockets had a Kentucky player and a Kansas player as their rotation at power forward. Now, they still might have the same thing, only different players. Houston sent out starter Patrick Patterson and backup Marcus Morris, landing Thomas Robinson as the centerpiece of a three-player package that also includes a second-round pick. Let's start with the obvious: Robinson hasn't been very good as a rookie. He has had a tough time dealing with shot-blockers in the paint and is getting more than 10 percent of his shots rejected, per Hoopdata.com, one reason he's shooting just 42.9 percent from the field. Surprisingly, Robinson's performance is more or less in line with his translated junior season at Kansas, which earned him consensus All-America honors. Robinson was much more efficient as a sophomore, when he backed up Marcus Morris and twin brother Markieff, and supplied energy off the bench. There have been nights when Robinson has embraced a similar role for the Kings, but he'll have to do it on a regular basis to become a valuable NBA contributor. And he must cut out bad shot attempts and the overdribbling that has caused him to turn the ball over on nearly 20 percent of his plays. Having teammates such as Jeremy Lin and James Harden capable of setting him up will help Robinson, who has been assisted on less than half of his field goals. The Rockets could take a chance on Robinson because of their depth and flexibility. The small lineup that started Wednesday's game against Oklahoma City, with Carlos Delfino at small forward and Chandler Parsons sliding down to the 4, probably will continue to get run. Rookie Donatas Motiejunas has started to play well, and Terrence Jones could also be in this mix. From this group, Houston will hope one power forward emerges. Daryl Morey isn't done yet. The Rockets still have about $5 million in cap room to add an expiring contract for the playoff run before the deadline. They also might continue the pursuit of Josh Smith; Robinson and the other players they added (Garcia has a team option next season that is effectively an expiring contract) can be aggregated in a multiplayer deal because Houston is under the cap. Even if the Rockets don't do anything now, they'll be players this summer. Dealing Marcus Morris means Houston shaved $1.5 million off the 2013-14 payroll and now should have enough room for a max offer to Smith or Dwight Howard. Sacramento: D Let's start with the positive. Patterson is, today, a better player than Robinson. He's also plausibly a better fit next to DeMarcus Cousins because of his ability to space the floor. So the Kings have improved somewhat for the rest of a season that's on the Sleep Train to nowhere. All that will do is hurt their draft pick. Their focus, obviously, should be on the future, and there the story is much murkier -- even before we consider the pending sale of the team to new owners who don't yet have any say in operations. First, Patterson has a year and a half left on his rookie contract. Robinson has three-plus cost-controlled seasons, and teams rely on the value players provide before hitting free agency. Second, Robinson is nearly two years younger than the 23-year-old Patterson, who has essentially maxed out his value as a fringe starter or quality reserve. As poorly as Robinson has played as a rookie, his upside is much higher. We're not even eight months removed from Sacramento drafting Robinson over Damian Lillard and Andre Drummond and nobody batting an eye. So even if you believe Patterson is the better player and that he'll help former Kentucky teammate Cousins, that's not the only criteria for a good trade. It's hard to believe that, if the Kings had made up their minds to move Robinson, they couldn't have at least gotten some kind of draft pick or cap relief out of the deal. Instead, they prioritized saving money (about $1.3 million in payroll the rest of the season, plus $1 million in cash, according to USA Today) over a brighter future. Phoenix: A Of the three power forwards in this deal, Morris has the best three-year SCHOENE projection. If he keeps up his 38 percent shooting from 3-point range and can improve his strength to deal with bigger opponents, Morris has a chance to become a starter in this league. Getting such a player with two years left on his rookie contract for a second-round pick is excellent value. The only real downside from the Suns' perspective is that they suddenly have two brothers and only one power forward position. Marcus planned to move to the perimeter as a pro, but he has been more effective since becoming a stretch 4 this season. As a result, he'll battle twin brother Markieff for playing time. In the short term, Phoenix can make room for both by using Luis Scola as a backup center if Jermaine O'Neal is traded before the deadline. Source: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/TradeGrades-130221/nba-grading-trade-deadline-deals
Yea PHX did do pretty well in getting morris for a 2nd rounder. Still happy we traded him because I like the 4 PFs we got now better
Has there ever been a situation where NBA twins were on the same team? I can't recall one off the top of my head. If I was PHX I'd try Mook at the 3.
I don't see how the acquisition of Marcus Morris is an A grade, but it's whatever. Him and Markieff might as well be the same player. The trade makes no sense to me for PHX other than just the feel good aspect of him playing with his brother.
Rockets got a 5pick, save 1.5mil and have maneuvered themselves into being a big free agent player this offseason in addition to freeing up Donuts...... A+ by my standards! .................. .................. ..................
This is what I mentioned in another thread. Maybe Robinson won't pan out, but we still have D-Mo and TJones. I think at least one of these guys will eventually become a good starting PF in this league. Don't automatically assume that Robinson will beat out D-Mo or TJones. These guys are all rookies with potential big upside. I don't know which one will end up being the best, but it's going to be fun to watch this develop. Our summer league team is going to be awesome.
I would normally be mad that we traded a quality player for a second round pick but with Moreys track record I have learned to trust him...
i agree with all of it except for phx with an A. really? trading for an allstar would be an A+, maybe an all star type / starter player would be an A or A-. marcus morris is a B, a decent rotation player with upside. if they didn't already have 2 other pf's i'd give them a B+.
For everyone complaining about Phoenix getting an "A", realize that 2nd round picks are a HUGE crapshoot in this league. Getting a known, serviceable player in Marcus Morris for a very inknown commodity in a 2nd rounder is a very solid deal. From the Rockets perspective, it was really more of a cash dump than a value trade. I think it's a win-win for both teams and addition by subtraction arguably for the Rockets, but hard to argue against Phoenix getting the better value in the end.
The Rockets took a chance and did not overspend for Millsap or Josh Smith in a trade. They should be ready to spend their money for whomever they want in free agency this summer. Grade: A+
Morris was the 14th pick and proven to be a solid player as of right now, they basically got him for a 2nd rounder. That is an absolute steal for them. Not sure why we did that.
We still has to see how Robinson does as of right now were all assuming he can be this that and everything but lets hope Robinson turns into the guy the Rockets thought Pat was gonna be
Phx has been turrible all year and they get an A lol. I agree that they didn't give up much for morris, but it's not like they are going anywhere this season because of that
I really wonder what type of player Robinson will become for us? Rotation player? Role player? Star? Superstar? I hope they don't send him to the D league, I'll let him develop in the NBA. With his potential he can easily get into the NBA level and develop quickly.