NBA Trades: Did the Houston Rockets Make a Mistake in Dealing Jordan Hill?

It appears that teams were seeking first-round draft picks for the upcoming NBA draft at the trade deadline.

One team that did make two interesting moves before the trade deadline last Thursday afternoon was the Houston Rockets, led by general manager Daryl Morey.

The first move was adding veteran center Marcus Camby, which was great because they have been in need of a center for awhile. Moving the contracts of Hasheem Thabeet and Jonny Flynn along with a 2012 second-round draft pick was worth giving up as both players were never really a part of the rotation in Houston.

Camby will be a great addition in the short term as he is an experienced player that can help the team make a playoff run this year in the supposedly wide-open Western Conference.

The other move made by the Rockets involved the Los Angeles Lakers and occurred just minutes before the trade deadline. The Rockets acquired veteran point guard Derek Fisher from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for big man Jordan Hill and a 2012 first-round draft pick (via Dallas as part of the Lamar Odom trade before the season).

Why acquire a player like Fisher and give up Hill to a rival team?

The Lakers already have a tall frontcourt and Hill was a starter for the Rockets earlier this season. He was still a “work in progress” and could have been held onto as the Rockets now do not have all that much youth to play behind Camby and Samuel Dalembert, other than Greg Smith.

Earlier this afternoon, Yahoo! Sports columnist Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news the Rockets are closer to reaching a buyout with Fisher, so the Rockets essentially traded Hill for a 2012 first-round draft pick.

Hopefully the Rockets can find a useful player with the first-round draft pick they acquired. Otherwise, giving up Hill may come back to haunt Morey and the Rockets.