Why the Houston Rockets Should Trade Tracy McGrady for Kevin Martin

I've been obsessed with the Rockets trading for Kevin Martin for a while now, and I sincerely believe that this trade makes more sense than ever for both sides. I'll defend my rationale in depth after the trade.

Houston Rockets Give

Tracy McGrady - $22.8 million/one year

Luis Scola - $3.3 million/one year

Sacramento Kings Give

Kevin Martin - $9.7 million/four years

Andres Nocioni - $7.5 million/three years

Kenny Thomas - $8.8 million/one year

So the biggest issue I had with this deal as a Rockets fan was losing Luis Scola.

He's been invaluable to our team this year and has been a beacon of consistency, a fact made all the more important when you consider that Brooks and Ariza have been a bit up and down all season.

My reasoning behind giving up Scola is threefold.

First, the Kings wouldn't accept this deal if it was just McGrady's expiring contract for their best player of the last three years. Scola's addition makes them much more likely to make the trade, especially when you consider that Spencer Hawes has been their starting center for much of the season.

I'll save you the niceties and/or subtleties by flat-out saying it simply: Spencer Hawes is an absolutely worthless basketball player.

Secondly, if we made this deal without trading Scola, we'd probably lose him next season anyway.

Let's say this trade happens but the Rockets keep Scola.

We would have about $54 million on the books for next season (I'm working under the assumption that Yao will exercise his player option after this season), which isn't enough to resign even two of the trio of Lowry, Landry, and Scola, let alone all three, and if I had to choose between them I'd go with Carl.

The deal gives the Rockets a budding superstar in Kevin Martin and a legitimate go-to guy at the end of games, something we've been lacking all season. It also stops the Rockets' over-dependence on Trevor Ariza, who has clearly shown this year that he isn't ready to be a primary scorer yet.

I hate that the deal would probably move Battier to the bench, but it's a tradeoff I'd be willing to make to add a guy averaging 31 points a game this season.

The Kings do this trade for completely different reasons.

First, the trade allows them to unload Nocioni's bad contract for two expiring deals, all the more important because they aren't even playing Nocioni all that much.

The second reason is slightly more complicated.

The Kings' motivation for giving away Kevin Martin is essentially just Tyreke Evans. Evans has shown he's more than ready to take over the premier position on a team, and Kevin Martin's return would only impede his progress.

Also, Evans is not a true point guard but rather is more of a combo guard, much like, well, much like Kevin Martin. If Martin were to rejoin the Kings he'd only take touches away from Evans, which would most likely end in one or both players complaining about their roles on the team as well as their shots.

Finally, the Kings have actually been better without Kevin Martin, record-wise.

Although it's just a small sample size, the Kings were 1-4 with Martin and are 12-10 without him, the winning record being capped off by a tremendous comeback from 35 points down in Chicago.

All in all, I think this is a trade that benefits both sides in both the long term and short term.

The Rockets get a possible final piece to add to what is now a young and exciting nucleus that's just starting to dip into its vast potential.

The Kings give themselves a significant amount of cap space to work with in the upcoming free agency period by adding two expiring contracts worth about 26 million while simultaneously gaining one of the best power forwards in the NBA and unloading a player who they've been better without.

What do guys think?

Rockets Lineup After Trade

C - Chuck Hayes/David Andersen/Brian Cook/Joey Dorsey

PF - Carl Landry/Andres Nocioni/Joey Dorsey

SF - Trevor Ariza/Shane Battier/Andres Nocioni 

SG - Kevin Martin/Chase Budinger/Jermaine Taylor

PG - Aaron Brooks/Kyle Lowry

Looks good, no?

Update: After reading the comments, I realize that a lot of you are pointing out similar flaws with the trade (namely the possible chemistry issues it would cause), so I thought I'd just address them up here as a continuation of the article instead of replying to each individual post. Here we go.

The only other problem I (you guys) can see with this deal is the possible chemistry issues that could arise by adding another wing scorer. Yeah, I agree that we've gotten this far this year by sharing and ball movement, but at the same time, the NBA isn't your five-year old kid's basketball league.

At some point you have to realize that talent trumps all, and at the end of the day we just might not have enough talent to truly compete out west.

Yeah, we're playing well now, but later in the season? What about when your schedule wears you down? When you can't go 110 percent every night? When you begin to make silly mistakes that you didn't make in November? Can we still beat teams that clearly have more talented players than we do?

I think adding Martin would allow Ariza move into the role of a second or third option, something he's clearly more comfortable with. Nothing against him, I think he's an excellent player and I love having him on our team, I just don't think he's a guy who can average 20 a game or carry a team down the stretch.

Martin would essentially just do a little more than what Ariza does now, which is take threes, drive and slash, work of the pick and roll and create shots when the offense starts to stagnate, only he'd do it more efficiently.

Plus, to be entirely honest, I can't see the Rockets winning a championship this  year, and when Yao returns next season the chemistry is going to change once again. So why not build up as much talent as we can now to really contend next season? I know it sounds inherently defeatist, but I like to think of myself as being realistic.

And, I know I'm reaching here, but I'm fully confident this team can learn to work even with the addition of a new big-time player.

NBA teams go through midseason trades all the time, and more often than not players adjust to their new roles without much  complaining. It might be turbulent at first, but I'm sure everyone  on the team would be fine with adding a guy who needs 18 shots a game if it meant a better chance at winning, especially when you consider the high character, unselfish nature of the guys Morey's assembled for our team. 

Overall I think it's a solid move. Not one that we will or even should do, just an intriguing possibility. I'll let the roasting begin in the comments section.