Unlike the front offices of just about every other NBA team, the Houston Rockets have done most of the team’s talks about personnel away from the ears and mics of journalists (or of those who are friendly to us writerly types). Still, like the fake Battier deal yesterday, eventually something will leak on to these here Internets. Like this tweet from Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski:
Charlotte’s active in talks to move Gerald Wallace and/or Stephen Jackson, league execs say. Houston, Portland, others w/ eye on Wallace.
Or this tidbit from a piece by Stefan Bondy in that bastion of journalistic integrity The New York Daily News:
According to a source, the Nets are also trying to pry Danilo Gallinari from the Nuggets and point guard Aaron Brooks from the Rockets. However, Nuggets GM Masai Uriji told NBA.com Monday night that he will not trade Gallinari or Mozgov.
Huh. The Nets? Do the Rockets really want to ensconce themselves in that debacle? Still, New Jersey seems desperate for a personnel upgrade and equally desperate for some reason or another to ship out Devin Harris, making Brooks look especially attractive. If the Rockets can sneak out a grab bag from New Jersey/Brooklyn/Moscow featuring some of the prizes from the proposed Melo deal (Kris Humphries and a couple picks would be super, thanks), I would not be surprised if Daryl Morey decides his trump card lies in a deal with the Nets in which he can also ship out a disgruntled, underperforming combo guard.
The Wallace deal appears equally intriguing. Charlotte desperately needs help at the 1 position (North Carolina has long seemed an ideal choice for a move involving Brooks, though the little warrior’s injury complicated any discussions of moving him for a couple of months), and Gerald Wallace, regardless of his age and durability, remains one of the five or so best players in the game at his position (believe me. After Bron, KD and Melo, that list takes a sharp dive). Still, any deal for the aptly nicknamed Crash would involve more than Brooks (Yao’s partially-insured contract glitters as a prime target for the Bobcat and Jordan’s pockets), and this team probably couldn’t deal with the emotional impact of another injured star, a constant risk with the high-flying, so-indefatigable-that-it-borders-on-reckless Wallace. Mostly, what would disappoint about a deal for Wallace would be the remaining gaping hole in the team’s need for a consistent offensive option, something Wallace, like perennial Rockets fan object-of-envy Andre Iguodala, wouldn’t provide.
