Grading Early Returns from Houston Rockets' Trade Deadline Acquisitions
Just when you thought the streak might be over, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey made his eighth straight move at the trade deadline. He swapped Isaiah Canaan, Alexey Shved and some picks with the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks to bring in K.J. McDaniels and Pablo Prigioni.
The Knicks and Sixers are amidst seasons to forget. With 25 wins between the two of them, their front offices were willing to swing some deals at the February cutoff. Morey jumped at the opportunity and landed a couple of interesting pieces for the Rockets moving forward.
Houston was looking for an upgrade at point guard and perhaps an extra serviceable big body down low. However, Morey didn't really get either of his top priorities.
The Rockets' glaring weakness in the past couple of months has been at the point guard position. Patrick Beverley, who has undoubtedly been playing his hardest with high intensity, just leaves more to be desired. There is an abundance of high-quality point guards in the Western Conference, but he is not one of them. His 10.3 points, 3.4 assists and 35.9 three-point percentage have not gotten the job done.
The biggest issue for Houston has been Bev's inability to create offense for himself or others, particularly while James Harden is on the bench. Basically the Rockets' entire offensive output is delivered through the Beard, whether it's his outside shot, consistency at the free-throw line or passing out of double teams.
Josh Smith and Corey Brewer have done a solid job of burying that issue under the rug off the bench. The second unit plays at such a fast pace, and they turn aggressive defense into fastbreak offense quite well. When that unit has to play in the half court, however, the offense can get ugly. After all, your backup center, Smith, is your second-best facilitator on the team!
That's why the Rockets wanted a Goran Dragic or Ty Lawson, but they couldn't make it happen. Morey settled for Prigioni, and in addition made a move geared towards the future by snagging McDaniels.
Pablo Prigioni
Prigioni isn't the point guard the Rockets had in mind, but that doesn't mean he can't contribute. The 37-year-old veteran from Argentina knows the game and can pitch in from time to time.
Prigioni's minutes have been inconsistent since arriving in Houston. He has played over 10 minutes in four of his eight games dressing out with the Rockets, and Beverley was out with the flu in a couple of those. He may not have a significant role, but his ability to game-manage and facilitate the pick-and-roll will get him some minutes.
He's had his moments in red, but the 6'3'' guard's numbers aren't anything special. He's racked up some good assists, but he's scoring barely over a point per game shooting 21.4 percent from the field. Shooting 35.2 percent from deep on the year, that percentage has dipped all the way down to a dreadful 15 percent since the deadline.
Because of his recent struggles, Prigioni hasn't played much, if at all, in the last few games. He's a good pick-and-roll guard, but his slump from beyond the arc and shaky defense has hurt his chances of playing consistent minutes. I think there's a good chance he can get back on Kevin McHale's good side before the season's over and maybe even see the floor in the playoffs, but he'll have to work on that three-point shot in practice.
Looking forward, Prigioni certainly isn't a piece of the master plan. At 37, Morey must have thought Prigioni could help the Rockets contend now. His contract doesn't expire till the end of next season, but he most likely won't be back after that.
This next guy, however, could be a big part of the future.
Grade: C+
K.J. McDaniels
Morey let go of a talented guard with plenty of potential to get another one. The Rockets sent Canaan to Philly to bring in McDaniels, a much different type of player.
The 32nd pick out of Clemson, McDaniels is a freak athlete. The 6'6'' guard can get up, and he's also an above-average perimeter defender. The latter is probably why Morey wanted him in the first place.
The Rockets are the fifth-best team in terms of defensive efficiency. Morey has really turned his focus towards defensive-minded players since Houston got bounced in the first round last season. With his unique athleticism and lateral quickness, McDaniels has the potential to be a great defender one day.
We haven't seen any of that potential since the acquisition, however. McDaniels averaged 9.2 points and 3.8 rebounds with Philly, but he hasn't gotten many opportunities for the Rockets. He's appeared in just three games, all in garbage time, for a grand total of 10 minutes played. He's made just one basket in four tries and has not recorded a single other stat.
Clearly, McDaniels isn't meant to contribute this season, but he does have a bright future. Whether that future is in Houston remains uncertain.
The 22-year-old rook decided to bet on himself, signing just a one-year rookie deal with the Sixers. He will become a restricted free agent in the summer. I'm sure Morey wants to keep him, but the question is at what price.
If McDaniels continues to ride the pine for the rest of the season, the less likely it is he gets a lucrative contract this summer. We'll just have to monitor the situation and cross that bridge when we get there.
Grade: C-
A Quick Check-in:
Just to update those who are interested, let's check in on the pieces the Rockets traded away. Those picks won't take place for a while, but Canaan and Shved both get some playing time on their new teams.
Canaan has started all eight games he's played for Philly. He is averaging 13.8 points and 3.4 assists, shooting 41.9 percent from deep, including a nice 31-point effort against the OKC Thunder.
After taking over at starting point guard when Bev was down back in November, Canaan fell out of the Rockets' rotation. He had flashes of promise, but could never see the floor consistently. Now that he's with the Sixers, he'll get his chance to prove his worth. I don't think he'll ever amount to a starting point guard on a contender, but we know he's got some game.
Shved is averaging 10.0 points and 3.7 rebounds in the Big Apple with the Knicks. Despite this confounding blunder, he also is proving he can be a serviceable scoring guard. I don't think the Rockets will miss him nearly as much as Canaan, but he still has a chance to be a factor in the Knicks' rebuilding project.
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