NBA Trade Deadline 2012: The One Trade the Houston Rockets Must Make

ROCKETS TRADE: Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and the Knicks' 2012 No. 1 Pick

CELTICS TRADE: Kevin Garnett and Marquis Daniels

The Houston Rockets have had a pleasantly surprising season so far, thanks in large part to the stellar point guard play of Kyle Lowry, a player they would like to build around and have refused to include in any trade for the coveted star forward Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Rockets know that they are, at the very least, one star player away from being a true title contending team. And since they probably cannot acquire Gasol, they need to turn their attention elsewhere.

By elsewhere, I mean free agency and not trading for another player. The Rockets already have a very solid financial roster, as the only high-priced players that are under contract for next season are Martin and Scola. Combined, the pair makes less than superstars such as Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki make.

However, what the Rockets really need is even more cap space.

Houston has an incredible amount of cheap, young talent on their roster, and if I were GM Daryl Morey, I would not hesitate to shop and ultimately trade both Kevin Martin and Luis Scola to free up even more funds to spend in free agency.

Trading Martin and Scola and even including the Knicks' first-round draft pick in such a package for the Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett and Marquis Daniels is, in my mind, a no-brainer trade for Houston to make.

Kevin Garnett may be beloved in Boston and the Celtics certainly would not have won either of their two recent conference titles or one NBA championship without him, but he is most definitely on the downside of his career. If the Celtics could get two solid starters and a first-round pick for him, they would surely consider it.

If the Rockets are able to pull this trade off and pick up their team options on youngsters Chase Budinger, Terrence Williams, Patrick Patterson and Jordan Hill, while also re-signing Chandler Parsons to add to starter Kyle Lowry and 2011 first-round draft pick Marcus Morris, they would have seven solid players under contract next season and still around $40 million to spend in free agency.

As for the Celtics, I do believe this is a trade they would seriously consider. If they agreed they would have four solid starters ready for next season in Rondo, Martin, Pierce and Scola, as well as three first-round picks in the insanely deep 2012 draft.

Boston could possibly package all three picks to move up and grab a potential All-Star center like UConn's Andre Drummond or trade two of the picks to move up and grab a very solid center like North Carolina's Tyler Zeller. They'd have their starting five for next season all set.

This is yet another trade that probably should happen, but it probably won't.