Power Rankings Revised - Last night when I went to bed, Yahoo’s Marc Spears’ Power Rankings had Houston fourth (4th!), and the blurb along with it said something about the Rockets hoping to trade Asik, but that they hoped to keep Lin “due to the scoring value he brings”. The Dream Shake even put out a post about it. Just this morning though, Mr. Spears seemed to have a change of heart.
4. Houston Rockets (36-17; last week’s ranking: 7): Houston would love to trade center Omer Asik, and a source said it is actively shopping Jeremy Lin as well. Both, however, have pricey contracts.
You never know who these mysterious “sources” are that are always being quoted this time of year; and teams/agents certainly use the media as a way to leak certain messages to influence the market one way or another. We’ll probably never know the reason for Spears’ change of heart while we slept, but it’s a pretty interesting turn of events nonetheless.
Halftime Is Over - Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN compiled a list of storylines to watch over the second-half of the season. Dwight Howard and the Rockets made the list, albeit in a somewhat backhanded manner.
Can Dwight Howard and the Rockets be taken seriously?
He’s not quite his old, dominant self, but Howard and the Rockets are in third place out West. Thanks to the defense Howard provides, this flawed defensive roster is among the top 10 on that end. It’s difficult to take Howard seriously in most contexts, but he’s helping Houston just enough to make it fearsome.
The Rockets stand out with their extreme preference toward 3-pointers and equally extreme avoidance of midrange shots. That style gives the Rockets a discordant feel, as though the whole isn’t greater than the sum of its parts. Despite awkward appearances, this style has powered Houston to a fifth-ranked offense. The Rockets don’t look like a traditional title contender, but if they keep winning at this rate, they’ll have to be considered one.
Discordant? Awkward? I think the words you’re looking for, Ethan, are efficient and prolific. The Rockets are one of the teams leading the charge in changing the way basketball is played. Teams have learned that shooting 35% from three is more productive than shooting 48% from the field, so long as you take a lot of threes. And the Rockets shoot a lot of threes.
As for the rest, Dwight may be a goof, but when he’s playing like he has since New Year, you’ll take him and his – unique – sense of humor anchoring the Rockets “flawed” defense. In fact, defense is why I don’t understand why so many pundits are still so enamored with the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland is in the bottom-half of the league defensively and if you think James Harden struggles on defense, go watch Damian Lillard try to cover opposing point guards. And people talk about LaMarcus Aldridge like he’s a young up-and-comer; the man will be 29 years old this summer. This is very likely the best Aldridge we’ll ever see.
Championship teams historically only require a top-ten defense. You don’t have to be elite to win a title; just near the top and the Rockets are. They’re one of only four teams in the West (LAC, OKC & SA are the others) to rank in the top-ten in both offense and defense. The Rockets to this point haven’t gotten much attention from the national media, while darlings Portland and Golden State continue to get love despite their more obvious shortcomings. Strauss is right about one thing though; keep winning and they won’t have a choice but to acknowledge the Rockets.
More Trade Talk - More from ESPN: Tom Haberstroh offered five trades he would like to see happen before the February 20th trade deadline. Of course, the oft-rumored Omer Asik made the list.
Portland Trail Blazers receive: Omer Asik, Omri Casspi and Donatas Motiejunas
Houston Rockets receive: Wesley Matthews and Meyers Leonard
View this trade in the ESPN Trade Machine
Why I want to see it: This helps both Western Conference powerhouses address their weaknesses without sacrificing too much of their strengths.
Word is the Blazers aren’t bullish on Asik and they’d hate to mess with the on-court chemistry of their starting lineup, but they’re kidding themselves if they think they can challenge for the West title without an upgrade on the defensive end. They rank 23rd on defense this season and 26th since the New Year. When healthy, Asik is one of the top five rim protectors in the NBA, and he’d beef up a frontcourt that just lost Joel Freeland for at least a month with an MCL sprain. They need help.
The Blazers would hate to lose Matthews, but this is a golden buy-low, sell-high opportunity for an unbalanced squad. Though Matthews has been instrumental to their relentless offense, such a deal wouldn’t remove the franchise pillars of Damian Lillard, Nic Batum and LaMarcus Aldridge. Rookie C.J. McCollum has recently looked fantastic after missing the beginning of the season due to a foot injury and would help fill the void along with Dorell Wright. Plus, no owner is better equipped to take on the $15 million that Asik is owed next season than billionaire Paul Allen.
The Rockets would net the sweet-shooting Matthews, who is also a physical perimeter defender — an area that has been Houston’s Achilles’ heel this season. He’s had somewhat of a down year defensively (Synergy rates him as well below average thus far), but he’s typically been better on that end of the floor. As a veteran 3-point marksman with defensive chops, he’d fit in nicely for the Rockets’ big push.
While all the players involved with this trade are valuable pieces of varying worth, I find it pretty telling that both teams drop a few wins with this move according to Hollinger’s metric on the trade machine. The pieces are there, but the fit isn’t. I don’t think Meyers Leonard and Greg Smith would make for a viable pairing off the bench. And while Matthew’s shooting and defense would help, he plays the same position as the Rockets best player and would force a three-guard lineup for a majority of his minutes. Is his defensive improvement even valid if he’s forced to cover bigger, more athletic players most of the time?
Something like this or perhaps even this might make sense, but the Rockets would have to relinquish at least a first round pick to make it worth the Blazers breaking up a core that has exceeded expectations so spectacularly. Either way, even with all the talk that this has been one of the quieter trade deadlines in a long time, you can be sure that Morey has not been the one sitting it out. He may very well go into the playoff with this team, but history says don’t count on it.
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