Houston Rockets Should Back Away As Trade Deadline Approaches

The Houston Rockets have lost nine of 14 and four of five in a six-game homestand many thought the team might sweep.

Instead, the squad found itself a few plays away Friday night from the brink of getting swept.

The once positive point differential has become a negative one, and the defense has looked matador at best.

In their longest homestand of the year, the Rockets are shooting in the low 40 percent range, a number that explains the month-long struggle.

After breezing to the winningest December in franchise history, the team sank to the bottom of the Houston Ship Channel in January and could not find the surface.

What happened to that "easy" portion of the schedule, anyway?

As Rick Adelman likes to say, "they don't make it easy."

The Rockets are mired in an undeniable funk, and it's not the James Brown kind.

No one at Toyota Center feels good, and the team could use more than one brand new bag.

Bounced temporarily from the playoff picture, Houston faces Don Nelson's defenseless Golden State Warriors in must-win mode.

Attacking the basket with frequency would aid the Tuesday night victory cause. The flailing Rockets hoisted up 34 three-pointers Sunday evening against a Phoenix Suns unit that ranks amongst the worst in the NBA at protecting the rim.

The free throw shooting has gone South faster than a convicted felon headed for Mexico in a sports car with a Formula One engine.

In the lone win at the TC, the Rockets clanged 14 freebies, including several in the final minutes that nearly cost them the game.

The list of players to torch the team during the abysmal, bittersweet homestand (maybe we should call it a homesit?) grows with every quarter. Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Brad Miller, and J.R. Smith have all delivered nightmarish knockouts. Rudy Fernandez did his best with 14 fourth-quarter points in Brandon Roy's absence.

To make matters worse, three of the five foes triumphed without key cogs. Carmelo Anthony, one of the league's top scorers and an MVP candidate, sat for the Denver Nuggets. Joakim Noah did not suit up for the Chicago Bulls. Roy missed Friday's contest with a sore hamstring.

The Memphis Grizzlies, who spoiled another Kobe Bryant milestone Monday night, have supplanted the Rockets as the association's Cinderella story.

Opponents have caught on to Houston's act. The squad's resilience and grit no longer surprise anyone. Defenses have adjusted to Carl Landry, Chase Budinger, and Luis Scola.

They play hard. So what? The visitors no longer have a reason not to shrug.

The wrangle has inspired an understandable buzz.

The trade winds are blowing at 75 mph. Wait until the trade deadline. They will become violent.

With a $23 million expiring contract at his disposal, GM Daryl Morey needs to make a deal to get the team out of that mucky ship channel water, right?

When a squad fighting for a seventh or eighth playoff spot hits the skids and gets whacked on its home floor, the easy fix is to shake up the roster.

The problem for the Rockets, though, is that no deal can fix what ails them. Barring some stunning technological advancement, Hakeem Olajuwon in his prime will not suit up next month, and Yao Ming will not return until 2010 training camp.

It says here that Morey should avoid the panic button and keep the roster intact. For those who believe the only recourse is to dump McGrady in an act of desperation, consider the following truths.

The Rockets Employ McGrady, Not Vice Versa

Do not confuse a trade request with a trade mandate. A GM saying he will "try" to accommodate a player's trade request and shipping him out are two different things.

Morey told the Associated Press and Houston Chronicle he would attempt to find a suitable trade partner. That last part has proven a bugaboo.

Until one of the four Eastern Conference lightweights craving salary cap relief offers something suitable, forget it.

Any discussion of McGrady should center on why Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and others are interested. No one cares about T-Mac the basketball player. Ed Stefanski, Gar Foreman, and Donnie Walsh would love to have $23 million come off their books next summer, either for a financial reprieve or more dough to spend when big names hit the free agent market.

Can anyone tell me where in Morey's contract it requires him to help the Knicks throw more money at LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh?

The Rockets are not in the business of such assistance, when they would also love to have any of the above players.

I will repeat what I have written ad nauseum on this site. Morey does not want Jared Jefferies, Eddy Curry, or Samuel Dalembert without Andre Igoudala. Period.

I do not need to be friends with the MIT grad to know what he's thinking. He likes his job, and his IQ is probably much higher than mine.

At present, Morey can choose one of three options.

1) Trade McGrady and take back contracts that total close to $23 million.

2) Waive McGrady, eat salary, and let him sign on with a contender or other playoff hopeful for the veteran's minimum.

3) Keep his contract and let it expire.

Those concerned about McGrady not playing again this year should stop the pity party. He's collecting the NBA's heftiest pay check this year. He will make do.

Remember that the Rockets organization employs McGrady, not vice versa. Morey can do whatever he pleases with the disgruntled guard's contract.

If other teams benefit from all of that money disappearing from their payroll, so do the Rockets. Why should they help out someone else and screw themselves in the process?

McGrady will play for someone, somewhere next year. Nothing can change that. Some exec will overpay for a former star hoping to get back to that level.

Some owner will sign off on the acquisition because he needs to sell a few more tickets.

The Rockets do not need to trade T-Mac, and continue reading for further reasoning as to why they should not.

Would Stoudemire, Igoudala Brighten Future Prospects?

Contrary to the belief of some, Stoudemire was not auditioning for a job in Houston when he dropped 36 points Sunday at Toyota Center.

In slicing up the Rockets' porous defense, he showed everything that makes him both tantalizing and a drag.

He dunked and bullied his way to the basket for backbreaking scores, but he also fouled out in overtime. His rebounding numbers continue to dip as does his imaginary defense.

Phoenix Suns GM Steve Kerr will want more than McGrady in a deal for the All-Star forward/center. It is likely that he would not do a deal at all involving T-Mac.

That means mortgaging the future for now. If Morey netted Stoudemire at the expense of Scola, Landry, or Aaron Brooks, would he prove worthy of a half-season rental?

If Morey could immediately re-sign Stoudemire, would he? Should he?

If STAT and Steve Nash failed to lift the Suns to the NBA Finals, how could anyone expect the former to do so as a member of the snakebit Rockets?

A player with a history of knee problems fresh off eye surgery sounds like just the guy to get this organization back over the hump. Owner Leslie Alexander could change the team's motto from "We Are Red Nation" to "We Are Bum Knees and Glass Feet."

Stoudemire's knees have held up since his microfracture surgery, and the competitiveness and fortitude he displayed in returning from that career-threatening procedure should make him attractive to a squad that wins because it plays hard.

Still, his injury history should be a red flag to the chief basketball operations executive of a franchise that could have arranged a nifty sponsorship deal with a men's clothing and sports coat company for most of the last decade.

Igoudala—if Stefanski reneges on his promise to only make "basketball deals"—would provide Adelman another explosive scorer who can get to the cup and the free throw line.

However, the "other AI" plays less defense than Stoudemire, and his shot selection can make any coach scream.

He is a borderline All-Star but not good enough yet to merit selection by the coaches.

When it comes to Igoudala's contract, Morey should pause even more than he would for Stoudemire. Put yourself in his shoes.

Would you want to pay Igoudala $16 million in a few years? He has participated in the same number of playoff series victories as McGrady.

Caron Butler's deal is more palatable, but Morey would be gambling that losing and embarrassment have not derailed the 29-year-old's chance at winning for good.

I like Butler. He seems like a stand-up guy. The Gilbert Arenas gun play debacle, however, only adds to his list of sour experiences as a Wizard.

The glaring lack of size makes the pursuit of two stopgap forwards more questionable.

Nuggets starting center Nene destroyed the Rockets inside last week, and two of the players mentioned above cannot defend Nene.

Denver shot 39 free throws (to Houston's 19) in its win.

The Rockets need more Kendrick Perkins and less contested three-pointers on the break.

None of the rumored deals would give them that.

Summer of Tough Decisions Lies Ahead

When Luis Scola and Kyle Lowry hit the market in a few months as free agents (unrestricted and restricted, respectively), they will surely command more salary per year than they earn now.

The Rockets should want to keep both players in Houston, as each has demonstrated the toughness required of a championship hopeful. As of December, Lowry led the league in offensive fouls drawn and charges taken.

He pushes the tempo and bombards the basket with a relentless, contagious energy.

Scola's contributions require no explanation.

Morey could use both players, or Brooks, or Landry, in a sign-and-trade to land a star of Joe Johnson's caliber.

No one but Johnson knows what he will do next summer. Should the Rockets eliminate any chance at snagging him from the Atlanta Hawks by dealing for Igoudola or Butler?

A player of Johnson's caliber for a franchise with a better 'Plan B' than the Tri-state teams is worth the risk.

It says here that Morey should only surrender the above players if he gets back one of the 2010 stars.

Adelman Needs Answers, Not More Questions

Any team that might want Brooks or Landry would still be chasing potential.

How can anyone know for sure how good those two can be when neither has played a full season in his adjusted, expanded role?

The same can be said for the rest of the group.

If this season is a 82-game long audition, the players have earned more callbacks. Morey should want to see if this bunch can escape from its slump of late, and how competitive it could be in a playoff series against a title contender.

The GM and coach will not get the answers they seek by sending key pieces somewhere else.

Were early season wins at Utah and L.A. an aberration, or can the squad reel off more impressive road triumphs in that fashion?

The Rockets are struggling. In other news, traffic clogged Houston freeways this morning.

The front office's next move is the point of contention. Should Morey make a move simply for the sake of making one?

Would new blood energize a squad that has routinely blown 12-point leads and allowed 12-0 runs in the previous two weeks?

What should Morey do with McGrady?

The answers, guaranteed to come before or on Feb. 18, could shape and define the roster beyond 2012.

The best response for one of the league's brighest minds, amidst a losing funk and a storm of trade speculation?

Silence.