Trade Ideas for Houston Rockets Forward Terrence Jones

By drafting Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell, the Houston Rockets added two more forwards to an already crowded frontcourt. This is only serving to increase the chatter that Terrence Jones is on the trading block.

Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweeted on draft night that the Rockets were already looking to deal him.

Dekker joins Trevor Ariza at the 3, while Harrell joins Jones, Donatas Motiejunas and Kostas Papanikolaou at the 4. In addition, the Rockets intend to retain free agents K.J. McDaniels (restricted), Corey Brewer and Josh Smith. That’s potentially eight forwards on the roster.

In contrast, they have just 38-year-old Pablo Prigioni under contract at point guard. Jason Terry, who is “only” 37, is a free agent who wants to return. And Patrick Beverley is a restricted free agent. Beverley is a fine defensive player but limited offensively, having averaged just 10.1 points and 3.4 assists last year.

The Rockets need another player who can create shots but also can catch-and-shoot and play off Harden, the primary playmaker.

So theoretically, who could the Rockets get for him, either by himself or as a part of a package?

The rumor mill is fairly void of actual rumors, so I thought I’d bounce the question off Twitter to see who Rockets fans thought would be a workable target.

There are three categories of responses, which I’m labeling small, medium and large.

Large

Abdul #RedNation thought that Ty Lawson or Eric Bledsoe would be a good target:

Another fan suggested Jrue Holiday:

Each is interesting in his own right, but such a trade would need to include both Jones and Ariza. Depending on the price, Papanikolaou could be needed for ballast as well. However, Ariza wouldn’t just be about price, but about making an attractive enough package to entice a buyer.

Without Ariza, it’s hard to believe that no one would outbid Houston for either player. Even with him, the price is a bit low, particularly for Bledsoe.

The issue here is that it’s getting to the point of digging one hole to fill another. The Rockets made it to the Western Conference Finals last year without a point guard and with Motiejunas injured for the entire postseason.

Ariza was a major factor in helping the Rockets to become a premier defense, with the team giving up 1.9 fewer points per 100 possessions while he was on the court, according to NBA.com.

It’s also questionable whether a player like Bledsoe or Lawson—who are both excellent with the ball in their hands—could have the same type of impact playing off Harden. This has the potential to be a situation similar to what Kevin Love would have encountered in Houston.

In other words, Bledsoe or Lawson might not be worth the price, because even if they're capable of bigger numbers, their level of production playing as the second option might not be sufficient to justify the asking price.

Medium

The “medium” tier of trades are those which wouldn’t require Ariza, but which, combined with Papanikolaou could add a decent chunk of change to the offer. That would expand the pool of point guards the Rockets might acquire for Jones.

A trio of names put forth by Tim included Jose Calderon, Jarrett Jack or Mario Chalmers:

J.Ryan suggested George Hill:

Chalmers and Hill are particularly interesting names here.

For some reason, Hill is one of those guys who is always involved in trade rumors. Most recently, his name was brought up in trade talks regarding Ty Lawson before the trade deadline, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN.

But Hill is a really nice player. He's in that class between role player and star, averaging 16.1 points on 47.7 percent shooting and 5.5 dimes last year. His 37.0 percent career three-point percentage makes him a nice option for Harden to kick out to on drives.

But Hill still has the ability to put the ball on the floor and create for himself, as only 36.9 percent of his shots were assisted last year, according to Basketball-Reference.com.

Now, with David West opting out of his contract and likely headed for the Knicks, the Pacers might be willing to entertain talks regarding a new power forward who can stretch the court a bit.

Mario Chalmers is also on the block. Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported:

"

According to multiple league sources, the Heat are attempting to trade guard Mario Chalmers and big man Chris Andersen to help free up some salary that could ultimately be diverted to Wade. Both going into the final years of their contracts, Andersen and Chalmers are contracted to make a combined $9.3 million next season.

"

Chalmers played a very similar role alongside LeBron James in Miami when the team won two NBA titles. While he got more notice for being the “whipping boy” for the team, his 38.7 percent three-point shooting and 394 threes made during those years were a part of the reason the Heat were able to win.

According to Basketball-Reference, 51.9 percent of Chalmers buckets were assisted last year . That indicates he has the ability to make shots both on and off the ball, which makes him the right fit.

And, Chalmers' career 2.0 steals per 36 minutes is a nice fit for the Rockets’ aggressive defensive mentality.

With Papanikolaou having a team option and the Heat wanting to relieve salary, it’s feasible the Rockets won’t even have to part with Jones to make this happen.

Small

The last approach is to go minimal, with a more or less straight trade, or adding only a small contract to make things work financially.

One idea is mine: The Rockets send the Boston Celtics Terrence Jones and Joey Dorsey (for ballast) straight up for Marcus Smart. Smart was the 16th pick in last year’s draft. He wasn’t dramatically spectacular, but he is on the trading block, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders:

The Celtics have a few power forwards already, but based on ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus-Minus, Jones would step in immediately as their best defensive big.

There’s a danger that Smart will just end up being Patrick Beverley 2.0. He shot just 36.7 percent in his rookie year and only 33.5 percent from deep, but he’s regarded as having a higher ceiling than that.

The Walking Dead had another suggestion:

That’s enticing. The Spurs are looking to free up the cap space necessary to land LaMarcus Aldridge. The most logical way of doing that is to offload the contracts of Tiago Splitter and Boris Diaw, according to Mike Prada of SB Nation.

Of course, that leaves them a little shallow in the frontcourt, even with the addition of Aldridge. Having Jones as a third big man would be intimidating, especially since Jones could be groomed in the Duncan/Aldridge pedigree.

Patty Mills has legit handles and is accustomed to playing both on and off the ball. He is a career 39.1 percent shooter from deep. He’d be optimal alongside Harden. Alternatively, the Rockets could just dangle Papanikolaou straight up because of the expiring team option.

However, the downside of this is that helping the Spurs get Aldridge might not be in the Rockets' best interests. 

These suggestions are hardly exhaustive, but they do give a range of what the options and limitations are for the Rockets. It will be interesting to see what general manager Daryl Morey does.