Rockets Trade Sam Dalembert and No. 14 Pick to Bucks for No. 12 Pick and More
The Houston Rockets' master plan continues.
In a reported effort to move up in the draft and acquire assets for a play at Dwight Howard, the Rockets have made a trade involving draft picks for the second straight day.
The news comes from Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski:
"Yes, Brockman's so good, they traded him twice. Sorry. Livingston, Brockman and Leurer and 12th pick to Houston for Dalembert and 14th pick.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 27, 2012"
Let's take a closer look at this trade.
What It Means
In case you're having trouble keeping track of Houston's roster and picks, they now have no true center. Samuel Dalembert is gone, and Marcus Camby is a free agent.
In terms of the draft, they now own the 12th, 16th and 18th picks.
As far as the Bucks go, they get a big man, which is the direction they were expected to go with the 12th overall pick. Dalembert does have a team option for this season ($6.7 million), but with Ersan Ilyasova hitting free agency and Ekpe Udoh the only true center on the roster, they need some frontcourt depth.
This gives them that, and they only had to move back two picks to do it.
The Bucks must have reason to believe Meyers Leonard and Tyler Zeller won't make it to No. 12.
What Happens Next
The Rockets continue to make moves. They certainly haven't been making all these trades to acquire Jon Brockman and Jon Leuer (Shaun Livingston has a team option), who are owed a combined $1.8 million next season.
The plan for Houston, according to sources (via ESPN), is to likely trade all three of their current picks and possibly Kyle Lowry in order to grab two choices in the Top 10. If they are able to do that, they are going to use those picks to make a serious push for Dwight Howard.
This trade with Milwaukee is just a baby step.
