Do Houston Rockets Need One More Big Trade?
The Houston Rockets are in the midst of one of the greatest midseason arms races the Western Conference has ever seen. Contenders out West are stockpiling talent in order to make a run in the postseason, and the Rockets are no exception.
While the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers have decided to stand pat for the time being, every team behind them is looking to make moves.
The Memphis Grizzlies went out and got Jeff Green. The Dallas Mavericks also attended the Boston Celtics garage sale and snatched Rajon Rondo off their hands. The Los Angeles Clippers have been looking for a backup point guard, per ESPN.com's Marc Stein, and even the OKC Thunder have been in talks to acquire Brook Lopez from Brooklyn, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN The Magazine.
It's a mess out there, and that trend is likely to continue until the February deadline. The question is, will the Rockets be a part of it?
General manager Daryl Morey isn't the type of GM who sits around quietly at that time of year. In fact, Morey has made a deal at the last seven deadlines, and it's hard to imagine this year will be any different.
Houston has been making roster upgrades all season long. With depth a concern at the beginning of the season, Morey has done pretty much everything in his power to improve the bench. He acquired Corey Brewer and Alexey Shved in a three-team deal, then he snagged free agent Josh Smith after the Detroit Pistons released him.
But is that enough?
Do the Rockets have enough talent to go the distance in this brutal Western Conference? James Harden is playing like the league MVP, but can he sustain this level of play deep into the postseason?
The starting five is undoubtedly one of the best in the NBA. With the duo of Harden and Dwight Howard running the show, then Trevor Ariza and Patrick Beverley contributing defensively and Donatas Motiejunas having a breakout season, not many teams can compare.
The new-and-improved bench isn't too shabby either.
Jason Terry has rejuvenated his career with the Rockets and is hitting threes like they're layups. He along with Corey Brewer and Josh Smith make up the Headband of Brothers off the bench, and together they have provided a spark for the second unit.
Brewer is a natural fit as a good wing defender who can get out in transition, and J Smoove is slowly but surely figuring out how to make his shots as efficient as possible within the system.
There's no denying that this Rockets team can compete, but are they good enough? The West is loaded, and Morey's motto has always been "there's room for improvement."
Rumor has it that Houston is not quite done. The Rockets are potentially interested in an upgrade at the point guard position, which is understandable, according to Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher.
Beverley is a good player and even better competitor, but he certainly has his flaws. While he is a top-tier defender among point guards, he is fairly inconsistent on the other end.
His three-point shot has been a pleasant surprise so far at a career-high 39.5 percent, but he still can't create for himself or facilitate an offense. He also has been a bit of a liability with health concerns, already missing 12 games in the first half of this season.
His inability to run the offense like a true point guard is really not an issue. The truth of the matter is that Harden is the primary ball-handler on this team, and he does a heck of a job. While he leads the league in scoring, Harden also leads the team in assists, averaging nearly seven per game. He is an underrated passer and has great court vision to find the open man when the double-team comes.
When he rests, however, the offense struggles immensely. There isn't really a guy on the bench who can take over the offense and get consistent points on the board.
Terry has been playing the backup point guard role, but the Jet is really more of a natural shooting guard. Isaiah Canaan and Shved have also gotten a small chunk of those minutes, but they have not seen the floor in any significant time except as injury replacements. Kostas Papanikolaou and Smith have had to play some point forward at times, but that's not an ideal situation.
So, it makes sense that Houston is on the lookout for another facilitator. They have expressed interest in Goran Dragic and Deron Williams, per B/R's Ric Bucher, either of which would be a valuable asset off the bench. Even if they are technically in the starting lineup, their minutes would be staggered with Harden's so that they can take care of the ball-handling, while the Beard takes a breather.
Personally, I'd prefer Dragic to Williams. The Phoenix Suns have three quality point guards, and Dragic can walk at the end of the season in free agency. The Slovenian guard has already played under coach Kevin McHale in a Rockets uniform, and he thrived in that setting. For Houston in 2011-12, Dragic averaged 11.7 points and 5.3 assists per game, and his career has taken off ever since.
Not only has Williams been hindered by injuries the past few years, he also has not been his old Utah self even when he is on the court.
His numbers across the board are way down compared to his last season with the Utah Jazz and even his first year in New Jersey. He also costs over 20 times as much as Beverley and nearly three times as much as Dragic, but he isn't much more effective than they are, especially in the role he would play with Houston.
This is all hypothetical, of course. No deals are even on the table at the moment. All we know is that Houston is interested.
Besides, who would you give up?
Harden and Howard are untouchable, obviously, as are hopefully Ariza, Beverley and D-Mo. Canaan has shown some flashes in his limited minutes. Papanikolaou and Shved are movable pieces as well. So are the two draft picks, Nick Johnson and Clint Capela.
There's also a highly coveted first-rounder Houston has from the New Orleans Pelicans, whose playoff hopes are diminishing with every game, most recently highlighted by a 15-point loss in Philadelphia to the lowly 76ers.
The Rockets in their current state are a force to be reckoned with, currently in the top four of the West. There's a long way to go, but Houston should improve with time as they develop chemistry with their new acquisitions. They haven't had many big tests just yet with their new squad in its entirety.
They walloped Portland in Brewer's first game as a Rocket. The next game, in which Smith made his debut, Houston outlasted Memphis in overtime on the road. After that, however, the team had a fallback and lost four of their next six. They haven't beaten a playoff team since.
With some big matchups coming up, we might learn what we need to know about the Rockets heading into the postseason. Houston will face off against teams such as the Mavericks, Blazers and the Warriors and Suns twice in the coming weeks.
Those games will give us a better idea, but as of now, I don't think the Rockets need to make another trade this season. The chemistry is getting better every day, and some nights the team looks unstoppable. As much as I would like to get Dragic, Morey can go out and sign him this summer without giving anything up.
The Rockets have solid depth at each position, and the MVP front-runner leading the charge. The team defense is top five in the league, and the offense is on its way to becoming just as good. The primary focus for the team should be to continue to jell as a unit, and acquiring another player would only disrupt that process.
If the playoffs don't turn out to be a success, the Rockets will be big players in the offseason. But this current squad has the firepower to make a serious run at a title, and Morey shouldn't risk blowing that up by trying to add another "star." I'm not saying that the trade-deadline streak will come to an end, but if I were Morey, I'd take the year off this February.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
