Rockets Rumors: Howard, Lowry, Martin, Dragic
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle shares a few pre-deadline updates on the Rockets in his latest column. Let's check out the highlights:
- The Rockets have been aggressive about trying to engage Orlando in Dwight Howard talks, but the Magic aren't very interested in Houston's assets.
- One front office executive believes Houston will end up offering Kyle Lowry for Pau Gasol before Thursday's deadline, though the Rockets continue to insist that won't happen.
- The Rockets still hope to either make it work with Kevin Martin, or pursue a deal down the road when Martin's value is a little higher than it is now.
- Houston "went hard" after Andrew Bogut before the big man was traded to Golden State.
- Terrence Williams likely could be had for a second-round draft pick.
- Feigen considers Goran Dragic the Rocket most likely to be moved in a deal like last year's Aaron Brooks and Shane Battier trades.
Kyle Lowry Out Two To Four Weeks
The Houston Rockets suffered a blow to their playoff hopes with news that point guard Kyle Lowry will miss the next two to four weeks with a bacterial infection (hat tip to Ben Golliver of CBS Sports).
Houston currently holds the no. 8 seed in the Western Conference. So far as player movement is concerned, Goran Dragic is a nice trade chip for the Rockets and if they have any hopes of playoff contention it probably moves him off the table unless the right deal (Pau Gasol) comes along. But the Rockets will remain, as always, looking for that one elite or near elite player to tie their assortment of parts together.
Where Lowry's absence could make things interesting is for teams sitting just outside of the playoffs that might see this as an opportunity to secure a playoff seed. Any such team sitting on the fence about making a move might be compelled to pull the trigger, even if just for a rental, with Houston likely to fade.
Lakers Notes: Lowry, Bynum, Price
The Lakers are about to tip off their game with the Timberwolves tonight, and they catch a break, as Kevin Love is out with back spasms. Still, on the heels of ugly losses to the Pistons and Wizards in their last two outings, the Lakers must know they can't take any team for granted. There's been talk of a deal between the Lakers and Rockets for Pau Gasol today, but for now nothing appears imminent. In the meantime, here's the rest of what's going on in L.A.:
- Kyle Lowry is not a part of any talks between the Lakers and Rockets about Pau Gasol, tweets Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
- James Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press passes along a rumor that the Lakers are looking at Will Bynum of the Pistons and A.J. Price of the Pacers as secondary options if they don't get a juicier name at point guard.
- John Hollinger of ESPN weighs in with eight trades he thinks teams would be smart to make before the deadline, including a deal involving Pau Gasol and the Rockets that would net the Lakers a grand haul of Luis Scola, Goran Dragic, Hasheem Thabeet, Marcus Morris, Chase Budinger and a 2012 first-round pick. (Insider only)
Dwight Howard Rumors: Friday
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com wrote last night that the Magic would seek a Carmelo Anthony-esque haul if they decided to trade Dwight Howard. The teams on Howard's list of preferred destinations may have difficulty putting together such a package, but plenty of other clubs, such as the Hawks, Warriors, and Rockets, are still in the hunt. We'll follow today's Howard rumblings right here, with the latest updates at the top of the page:
- The Magic leaked the Thunder's interest in Howard just to let other teams know that a price similar to the package of James Harden and Serge Ibaka is what Orlando is looking for, tweets Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel tweets that the Magic executives are not at odds over Brook Lopez, who is in the discussion because the Nets are Howard's favored destination. Question remains, however, about whether team CEO Alex Martins or GM Otis Smith has final say on a deal.
- Robbins also tweets that the only way Howard would agree to a sign-and-trade is if the team he wants to go to does not have enough cap space for him.
- Sam Amick of SI.com shares some Howard updates in his latest column, noting that the Bulls have been "quietly deliberating" a play for D12 all season, but won't pursue him without assurances he'd remain in Chicago. Amick also hears that Magic GM Otis Smith isn't seriously interested in anyone the Warriors could offer for Howard.
- Howard's list of teams is becoming somewhat irrelevant at this point, according to Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. If the Magic get a serious offer from a team besides the Mavericks, Lakers, or Nets, they're just as likely to pull the trigger as they would be with one of those clubs.
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel can't see any sort of trade with the Hawks working. He doesn't think Howard would re-sign in Atlanta if dealt there, and he doesn't think the Magic could acquire Josh Smith without giving up Howard — even if they could, he's not sure the presence of Smith convinces D12 to stay in Orlando (Twitter links).
- Brian Schmitz of the Sentinel (Twitter link) also doesn't see the Hawks as a fit for Howard, saying the hometown team "offers no allure" for the Atlanta native. He adds that the Magic want Kyle Lowry from the Rockets in any Howard deal.
- The Magic talked to the Thunder about Howard, but Oklahoma City balked at giving up James Harden and Serge Ibaka, reports Schmitz (via Twitter). While that's entirely understandable, the idea of Howard playing with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, even if it's just for two months, is pretty fun, isn't it?
- It was reported yesterday that Otis Smith has talked to "all 29 teams" about Howard, but Schmitz tweets that only six to eight are serious — the other GMs just want to tell their owners they've called.
Rockets Aggressively Pursuing Pau Gasol
The Rockets have continued to "aggressively probe" the Lakers in pursuit of a Pau Gasol trade, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. No deal is imminent, however, according to Wojnarowski and Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (Twitter link).
Houston's interest in Gasol has been well-documented — the Rockets nearly acquired the 31-year-old in December's Chris Paul-to-the-Lakers blockbuster, before the deal was nixed by David Stern. The Lakers may have recently floated the idea that a package of Kyle Lowry and Luis Scola could pry Gasol away, but Houston still appears unwilling to include Lowry in any deal, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reports.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports wrote earlier today that if the Rockets won't part with Lowry, they may have to involve a third team in any trade for Gasol in order to get the Lakers the point guard upgrade they desire.
Spears On Howard, Bynum, Lowry, Gasol
A number of NBA executives are predicting a relatively uneventful trade deadline, and the ones who have spoken to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports echo that sentiment, calling this the quietest deadline in years.
"I'd be surprised if we see a lot of deals," one Western Conference exec told Spears. "In a short season, you can survive another 30 games and start talking trade to teams during the draft lottery."
While we may not see a blockbuster deal by next Thursday, there are still plenty of major trade possibilities out there, and Spears has updates on a few of the bigger names:
- The Dwight Howard sweepstakes continue to hold up other trades around the league, as one GM tells Spears: "Everyone has crazy ideas here and there. But teams are reluctant to make a trade until something happens [with Howard]."
- The Lakers aren't interested in trading Andrew Bynum unless it nets them Howard.
- With the Rockets still unwilling to include Kyle Lowry in a deal for Pau Gasol, Houston would probably need to recruit a third team to send Los Angeles a point guard if they hope to acquire the Spaniard.
- No changes on these fronts: The Celtics won't move Rajon Rondo unless they get a star in return, the Suns will only trade Steve Nash if he asks for it, and the Warriors prefer to deal Monta Ellis only if they can acquire Howard.
Southwest Notes: Rockets, Gasol, Jones, Odom
Only one Southwest team is in action tonight, as Dirk Nowitizki and the Mavericks take on Steve Nash and the Suns in Phoenix. To make up for the lack of games, let's take a look at a few Thursday links out of the Southwest:
- Based on calls he's received and reports he's read, Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle concludes the Lakers are "floating the idea" that a package of Kyle Lowry and Luis Scola could get Pau Gasol to Houston. Solomon says there's no way the Rockets would do such a deal though.
- Solomon Jones' second 10-day contract has expired, and the Hornets have decided not to sign him for the rest of the season, reports John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Jones played in 11 games for New Orleans, averaging 5.6 points and 3.7 rebounds in 17.8 minutes per contest.
- Lamar Odom and Mavericks owner accused New York media of blowing their alleged spat out of proportion, writes Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Coon On Lakers, Rockets, Celtics
Salary cap expert and burgeoning Twitter star Larry Coon unleashed a stream of tweets today on several topics. Here are some of the highlights:
- The Lakers are considering a swap with the Blazers for point guard Raymond Felton, who was recently benched. The Lakers would be able to fit Felton's $7.5MM salary in using part of their $8.9MM trade exception acquired in the Lamar Odom deal.
- Gilbert Arenas could be the fallback option at point guard if the Lakers don't get Felton or Ramon Sessions from the Cavs.
- The Rockets are still hot after Pau Gasol, but their unwillingness to part with Kyle Lowry makes a deal with the Lakers unlikely unless additional teams are involved.
- In a rumored deal involving Rajon Rondo and Gasol, the Lakers would seek Brandon Bass instead of Jermaine O'Neal. Rondo, Coon says, is "on the outs" in Boston.
- If the Celtics are looking to move Ray Allen, Coon reiterated what he's been saying about the interest the Clippers have in him. Complicating such a move is the health of Allen's son, Walker, who has juvenile diabetes and is accustomed to receiving care in the Boston area. The Clippers are also closing in on signing Bobby Simmons.
Assessing Stocks: Houston Rockets
Portfolio Review: The Houston Rockets have perhaps the best point guard in the NBA that isn't quite a franchise point guard in Kyle Lowry. He is entering the prime of his career just as their second best player, Luis Scola, is exiting his. Scola, coincidentally, is just about as good as you can get at power forward without being an All-Star.
And that, in a nutshell, is the Houston Rockets. A group whose individual talents promise falls just short of stardom, and whose collective talents falls somewhere between the 7th seed and just out of the playoffs in the Western Conference.
The Rockets are a team perfectly built around a superstar that no longer exists on their roster. Over the summer they were able to replace that superstar with Pau Gasol, only to have David Stern veto the trade.
Prime Assets: Kyle Lowry has been deemed untouchable in most trade scenarios, though I would strongly take a look at a Lowry for Rajon Rondo-type deal should it present itself. Lowry is the better all-around player, but like the rest of the Rockets roster, lacks a single elite skill. Rondo has a deficient jump shot that skews his team's spacing, something the Rockets would have no trouble accommodating.
With Lowry off the table, the combination of Luis Scola and Kevin Martin were once worth Pau Gasol with a third team. Perhaps they can be again.
Worthless Stock: The only redeeming value for Hasheem Thabeet right now is a team's ability to write they acquired a former no. 2 overall pick in the press releases. He and Jonny Flynn are not toxic assets, but they're certainly not helpful either.
The Rest: The Rockets do not really do bad contracts or bad players. They just don't have very many really good ones. The question is do the Rockets consolidate some of their depth to improve slightly in talent?
Lakers Rumors: Kupchak, Beasley, Gasol
- GM Mitch Kupchack addressed the media in response to Kobe as well as his stance on the Lakers being in trade talks.
- Chris Broussard of ESPN.com writes that the Lakers have spoken to the Timberwolves regarding their interest in forward Michael Beasley.
- Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that while there isn't too much progress in the ongoing trade talk involving Gasol, he also tweets that the stalled talks are due to the Lakers' specific asking price.
- SI.com's Chris Mannix tweets that the Rockets are not interested in trading point guard Kyle Lowry in a deal for Pau.
- Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports that although coach Mike Brown does not want to get involved between Kobe and Mitch Kupchack, he admits that the rumors could be bothering Gasol.
- Earlier today, we reported other rumors surrounding the Lakers forward.