From ESPN.com:
“The Rockets sent point guard Aaron Brooks to Phoenix and forward Shane Battier and guard Ishmael Smith to Memphis in separate deals Thursday that bring guard Goran Dragic and center Hasheem Thabeet to Houston. Rockets get a first rounder from both the Grizzlies and the Suns.”
In two trades with wildly different possibilities attached, the Rockets got younger, but did they get better?
Houston Rockets Outlook:
The Rockets weren’t making the playoffs this year. They’re a good team, but never quite clicked together at the same time and had too little size and too many defensive liabilities. Aaron Brooks, who was mostly terrible this year, was one of the main defensive liabilities. Moving him gives Kyle Lowry some job security and allows Houston to develop the talented Goran Dragic in limited minutes.
Battier is tough to lose, as he’s the team’s best defender, but he’s a free agent after this year and can simply come back. What Houston got, finally, was some size. With 6’6″ Chuck Hayes as center, this team wasn’t competing, and I’m a huge fan of Hayes defense and energy. Thabeet won’t start and likely will never develop, but he’s shown signs of being a solid defender and if Houston can develop him at all, the 7’3″ player could hold down the fort defensively in some zones. This is a team that could really use a player like Nene or Kendrick Perkins to support the weak defensively Luis Scola up front, but if they got that, Thabeet, Scola, Hayes, Jordan Hill and promising rookie Patrick Patterson is a ridiculously deep and versatile frontcourt that could be traded from to take care of different issues (particularly, this team needs a 3 and a wing defender).
Taking a chance on talents like Thabeet and Terrence Williams is a good strategy for Houston. Between Scola and Kevin Martin, they have scoring, they just need to find talented guys who play hard and defend to put around them. Even when the guys they take risks on fail, they serve as reasonable trade bait. Getting a #1 with Thabeet really helps put them over the top here. The #1 with Dragic, while getting the better fit, is great, as well.
Memphis Grizzlies Outlook:
This is going to be a playoff team. With Rudy Gay out, they needed someone to fill the role to make sure they remain playoff bound. Battier fills that role and is wildly popular with locals to boot. As a free agent coming up, he can easily be discarded later so as to try and re-sign Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Losing the pick hurts, especially since they had no reason to re-sign Thabeet in the first place, but at least they made the most of it. I really want them to get the Lakers in round 1 to see Tony Allen and Battier mess with Kobe.
Phoenix Suns Outlook:
The Suns continue to annoy me. They’re clearly trading Nash this summer, but getting Brooks, a guard who doesn’t pass enough or defend, isn’t the answer. He can be a capable backup, but is a worse and more expensive fit than Dragic. And giving up a #1, as well? Color me unimpressed. They traded Leandro Barbosa to then get a guy who plays more or less just like him… and they didn’t get anything out of Turkoglu anyway. That’s a whole mess of moves to end up with Marcin Gortat and a nearly done Vince Carter.
Final Thoughts:
The Rockets take a chance on potential and picks, smart for a team that does so well for themselves and take advantage of the Suns in one fell swoop. Memphis ends up with a net positive here, even if it’s one their own mistake caused to be necessary.
