5 Potential Midseason Acquisitions for the Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets have another tool in their belt they can use before the season is over: the trade exception from dealing Jeremy Lin to the Los Angeles Lakers last summer.
They have various assets they can offer in return for anyone they might acquire. Daryl Morey, prior to the season, explained it to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (subscription required) this summer:
"We have I think the best draft pick in the league for someone to trade for (the first-round pick acquired from New Orleans). I think we have the best set of international rights held - guys to either bring over or use in a trade."
The “best set of international rights held” consists of a list of nine names, per RealGM.com. Additionally, per RealGM.com, the Rockets own five extra second-round picks over the next three drafts, as well as their own.
The Rockets have several needs, mostly in regards to depth. They could use another backup wing, another backup big and another shot-creator.
Targets are listed in order of how much they would help the Rockets, though the better the target, the lower the chances are of Houston completing the trade.
Stats for this article were obtained from Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com/Stats. Salary information was provided by ShamSports.com.
Clarifying the Rules
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Before getting into the potential targets Houston can acquire for Lin, it’s important to briefly review the rules regarding what teams can and can’t do with a trade exception, as there are a lot of misconceptions.
- A trade exception can’t be combined with any other exceptions or players to add value to it. In Houston’s case, that means $8,374,646.
- Draft picks and draft rights can be added to a trade exception.
- I’ll quote Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ here, because this gets a little complicated:
"A common misconception is that players cannot be traded together in a non-simultaneous trade. This is not true -- players can be traded together as long as the outgoing salaries are not aggregated. For example, trading two $10 million players for a $20 million player requires aggregation, and therefore must be simultaneous. But trading two $10 million players for a $12 million player can be accomplished without aggregation -- one of the $10 million players would be used to acquire the $12 million player in a simultaneous trade, and the other $10 million player would be traded for 'nothing,' in a non-simultaneous trade, gaining the team a $10 million trade exception.
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So in effect, while it’s “simultaneous” in the sense that it is happening at the same time, it is treated as two trades—one constituting the trade exception, and the other a player for a player.
One other thing to note is that any player acquired with the exception cannot be re-traded for two months if he is combined with another player in the ensuing trade. However, no such restriction is applied if he is traded alone.
That means the Rockets, theoretically, could add to the value of their trade exception, but it would be difficult to do so.
They could trade for a player making the full amount of the trade exception, then turn around and trade that player for up to 150 percent of his salary, since the Rockets are under the tax. Utilizing such a strategy would increase the biggest possible contract they could obtain to $12.56 million.
If they aggregate salaries to do that, though, it means they would have to wait two months. Also, by combining salaries, they could only take back 125 percent of what they’re sending out.
5. Corey Brewer
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For a while, the Minnesota Timberwolves looked like they were ready to deal Corey Brewer. Now they may be having second thoughts about that, per Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press, who tweeted: “Flip (Saunders) on Brewer: he's just too valuable to us to move. Says he understands why teams with championship hopes want him.”
That could be sincere, but more likely it’s that Saunders is posturing to bump up the trade value for Brewer. My guess is they want a late first-round pick and are getting offered second-round picks.
And to Houston, he’s frankly not worth that much. He’d be a help to the team, giving the Rockets a backup wing who can play defense. But Brewer has limited range, shooting just 12.5 percent from three this year and 29.1 percent for his career. That doesn’t fit with Houston’s three-point philosophy.
His shot chart at NBA.com/Stats is a whole lot of red. He is able to get inside, with 58.2 percent of attempts coming near the rim. He makes 60 percent of those. But his ability to help the Rockets offense is limited, and they don’t need a whole lot of help on defense.
And, if they were to get him, it’s hard to see where he fits. He’s not an upgrade over Jason Terry as the backup 2 or Kostas Papanikolaou as the 3, so where does he play? The Rockets are better off passing here, even if he is available.
4. Ersan Ilyasova
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Ersan Ilyasova is a realistic target who would be helpful to the Rockets were they to acquire him. He gives the Rockets what many feel their biggest need is: another quality big man. He is also a nice fit with Dwight Howard.
Ilyasova is 36.5 percent for his career from deep, which works great with Howard in the paint and the Rockets’ strategy of emphasizing efficient shooting. He has been inconsistent over his career from distance, with a career high of 45.5 percent in 2011-12 down to a low of 28.2 percent last season.
Much of what he does depends on how much space he has to operate, which Howard would provide.
He’s due $7.9 million this year and next, though. So if Houston were to do this, it would forego any chance of adding much this summer.
Having said that, the latest news from Zach Lowe of Grantland suggests that there won’t be as much of a cap increase this summer as had been hoped (h/t David Weiner of Clutch Fans). And, as Weiner argues:
"Assuming that the Rockets waive all non-guaranteed salary for next season (namely, Kostas Papanikolaou and Tarik Black), renounce their rights to Jason Terry and Francisco Garcia, keep Patrick Beverley‘s cap hold on the books (which cap hold assumes that Beverley meets the “starter criteria” enabling him to get a higher qualifying offer from Houston) and otherwise do not make any trades (I know, unlikely, but still), Houston would be in line to have less than $7.2 million in cap room next summer.
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Or, in simpler terms, the Rockets aren’t doing anything in free agency this year anyway, so why not?
3. Greg Monroe
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Greg Monroe would be an interesting acquisition on several levels.
First, he’s an unrestricted free agent next year, after choosing to play for the qualifying offer. That means the further the Pistons get into the season without a legitimate hope of making the playoffs, the lower his trade value becomes. He’s obtainable for the Pelicans pick—a very decent price.
Second, he can play either center or power forward. He won’t stretch the court like resident starter Terrence Jones or Ilyasova, but he’ll offer additional low-post scoring. He could hold down the center spot until Howard gets healthy. Once Howard gets back, he could play extended minutes alongside Jones or Donatas Motiejunas, providing Howard extended rest.
Third, at just under $5.5 million, Monroe would only take up a portion of the trade exception. That would allow the Rockets to use the rest of it on someone like Luke Ridnour—a pure point guard type who can create for others and hit the three.
2. Paul Millsap
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Paul Millsap of the Atlanta Hawks would be the most ideal acquisition in many ways. He is a two-way power forward who can stretch the court. He’s the perfect complement to Howard.
Millsap is an under-appreciated stat-sheet filler who can do everything on the court. Since the start of the 2012-13 season, he is the only player who has accrued 2,500 points, 1,000 rebounds, 400 assists, 250 steals, 150 blocks and 100 three-point makes.
He’d be spectacular next to Howard. Along with Trevor Ariza, they could arguably have the best two-way frontcourt in the league. And there’s an advantage to that in the postseason, as you don’t have to fret about substitutions in the clutch.
There is one big issue, though. His $9.5 million contract is just out of reach of the trade exception. And the Rockets don’t really have other contracts that can make him attainable. So they’d have to make a trade now, wait two months, hope the Hawks fall out of playoff contention enough to be a seller at the trade deadline and then pray that whoever they’d acquired with the exception would be palatable to Atlanta.
So, while Millsap might seem like a dream, he may very well be a pipe dream.
1. Goran Dragic
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If the Rockets decided to go in another direction entirely, though, they could make a play for Goran Dragic of the Phoenix Suns.
Dragic has been with the Rockets before, from 2010-2012. But he averaged just 10.7 points and 4.6 assists during that stint.
Now he’s in an interesting situation in Phoenix. Last season, he won Most Improved Player for notching 20.3 points and 5.9 dimes. But the team added Isaiah Thomas and kept Eric Bledsoe, which gives them a glut at point guard.
The Suns are currently sitting on the No. 8 seed and a 10-8 record. With the Oklahoma City Thunder getting healthy, it may only be a matter of time before Phoenix starts falling out of the playoff hunt, and that’s where things could get interesting.
Dragic has a player option on his contract this summer. So, if the Suns become sellers at the deadline, Dragic would go for rental value.
Adding him next to Harden would work well. He can drain the deep ball and can create for himself and others. He shoots a 59.5 effective field-goal percentage on catch-and-shoots. He could play off Harden most of the time but also control the ball when Harden is getting trapped and Houston needs that second option. That could serve as the most important piece in a deep playoff run.
That they could attain that without having to give up Patrick Beverley, whose elite defense will still be pivotal, is even better.
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