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Keep an eye on Deron Williams, because the Rockets sure will

Just before the lockout started, the Summer of 2012 was shaping up as the Howard & Paul Free-For-All, but it was made emphatically clear to me then that neither player was considered the key get for the Rockets. Houston’s top target was New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams, multiple sources told ClutchFans.

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Deron Williams

New Jersey feels like they have their man, but the Rockets still have their sights set on Deron Williams

Just before the lockout started, the Summer of 2012 was shaping up as the Howard & Paul Free-For-All, but it was made emphatically clear to me then that neither player was considered the key get for the Rockets. Houston’s top target was New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams, multiple sources told ClutchFans.

Let’s talk informally about what I think is about to become a big question for the Rockets and their fans. Here’s a breakdown of some of the things to consider:

  • If the Rockets pursue Williams, it won’t be the first time. We reported back in March that the Rockets and Jazz had discussed seriously a deal that would have brought Deron Williams to Houston. Since that report, I’ve been told stories about how close the two teams were. Ultimately the Rockets couldn’t compete with the final offer from New Jersey, but talks between Utah and Houston were advanced.

  • The Rockets have information that leads them to believe that Williams likes Houston and is (at worst) open to playing here or (at best) wants to play here. That wasn’t the case with Dwight Howard or Chris Paul.

  • If the allure of playing with the Houston Rockets was strong right now, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. It’s not, and as a result, Houston is not anywhere to be found on Dwight Howard’s list of desired locations. That could change if they get Williams. It’s been fascinating to read several media reports about how Deron & Dwight want to play together because I know this was what the Rockets were thinking in the summer. As one source put it back in July — “If you get Deron, Dwight coming to Houston becomes one thing it isn’t right now — possible.”

  • Williams’ stock is falling — he’s shooting 36.6% so far on the season and was even worse last year for the Nets. The Rockets have a point guard who is rising in value — Kyle Lowry. Lowry is two years younger than Williams, playing like an All-Star across the board and is signed for two more seasons beyond this one at a bargain rate by NBA standards. The Nets are sinking at 3-11 and Williams looks disinterested. It seemed impossible that Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov would consider trading Williams given the price they paid to get him and their coming move to Brooklyn, but if they don’t get Howard themselves soon, they will have to make a very tough decision.

  • Williams is a Texas boy. He actually has a huge tattoo on his left arm of the state of Texas that says “Texas Made.” Kyle Lowry is East Coast to the bone (born and raised in Philly and played college there).

  • Williams may be from Texas, but he’s not from Houston — he’s from Dallas. Preventing another Miami Heat from happening in your own division, conference and state should be a top priority of the Rockets as the Mavericks, despite coming off a championship season, aren’t happy with the status quo and are hoping to put Williams, Howard and Dirk Nowitzki on the same team. If this happens, it’s going to be a wee bit difficult for Clutch City to raise pom poms to the tune of Jonny Flynn’s development.

  • The Rockets have three key pieces that could be interesting to New Jersey. First, Lowry as the obvious replacement for Williams. Secondly, Luis Scola, who the Nets had a heavy interest in back in 2010 when Scola was a free agent. The last piece is Houston’s draft pick, which is much more flexible to deal to New Jersey specifically. The Rockets already owe the Nets a lottery-protected first round pick from the Terrence Williams trade that transfers to 2013 if Houston misses the postseason, and that handcuffs Morey and company in many ways from being able to deal their pick or future picks. If it appears the Rockets “may” miss the playoffs as we get closer to the trade deadline, dealing the lottery potential of this year’s pick to New Jersey makes everything neat and tidy.

  • The talk of the Dwight Howard pursuit has been the Los Angeles Lakers’ reluctance to part with both Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol in a deal for Howard. If the Rockets had not been rammed off the road by David Stern, do you think they would have been willing to deal Gasol and Nene for Howard and Hedo Turkoglu’s contract in a scenario where they would be pairing him with Williams? I was told in so many words that this added to the pain of that deal being blocked, as every Daryl Morey deal seems to be setting up for the next one. This is a problem facing the Rockets right now — the Lakers have Bynum and the Nets have Brook Lopez, but the Rockets don’t have a key big to make an offer attractive.

So it boils down to this question if you’re the Rockets: Do you pursue a max-contract star in Deron Williams in an attempt to become a top NBA locale once again, but doing it at the cost of your highly underrated and underpaid point guard in Kyle Lowry?

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Armed with a bizarre fascination for Mario Elie and a deep love of the Houston Rockets, Dave Hardisty started ClutchFans in 1996 under the pen name “Clutch”.

Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets Draft Decisions: Who Will Be the #3 Pick?

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Houston Rockets Podcast

It’s officially NBA Draft Week!

The weeks of speculation are coming to an end as we’ve just about arrived at the 2024 NBA Draft. The Rockets hold picks #3 and #44 and could be quite active on the trade market.

Dave Hardisty and David Weiner paired up on the ClutchFans podcast to discuss the options before the Houston Rockets as they approach the June 26th NBA Draft. Is it really down to Donovan Clingan and Reed Sheppard as options? The pair also discuss trade-down options and whether Devin Carter could be intriguing to Ime Udoka. And are the Rockets a darkhorse for a Paul George trade?

The podcast premieres at 8:00am CT! Come join us!



CLUTCHFANS PODCAST: SPOTIFY | APPLE

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Podcast: Houston Rockets options with the #3 pick of the 2024 NBA Draft

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Houston Rockets 2024 NBA Draft prospects Zaccharie Risacher Stephon Castle Reed Sheppard Donovan Clingan

The offseason is now underway.

The forecast looks good for the Houston Rockets, but… there’s pressure as well this offseason because there are a handful of other West teams that might have rosier futures. Ime Udoka wants to win and win big. As we are about five weeks away from the NBA Draft, what are the Rockets looking to do this summer?

David Weiner joined Dave Hardisty on the ClutchFans podcast to discuss the Rockets shockingly landing the #3 pick and their options in this draft, including Reed Sheppard, Donovan Clingan, Zaccharie Risacher, Stephon Castle, Matas Buzelis and others. They also discuss the possibility of some big game hunting in Houston.


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Podcast: Steven Adams, Mikal Bridges and Trade Possibilities for the Rockets

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Houston Rockets Trade Deadline 2024

The Houston Rockets already made one deal, acquiring center Steven Adams from Memphis for a handful of second-round picks, but we still have several days left before this Thursday’s NBA Trade Deadline.

Are more deals on the way?

Rumors of interest in Mikal Bridges have swirled, with the Rockets holding precious (and unprotected) first-round picks from Brooklyn. They also could use some help inside this season, which Adams can not provide. Shooting is always in demand.

David Weiner joined Dave Hardisty on the ClutchFans podcast to discuss the Adams trade, its impact on the Rockets in 2024-25 and beyond, the Mikal Bridges rumors, the Brooklyn picks, other trade possibilities and options for Rafael Stone moving forward. Also discussed is the play of Houston’s core 6 prospects: Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason and Jalen Green.


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Rockets trade for center Steven Adams

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Steven Adams Houston Rockets

The Rockets made a surprise trade on Thursday, sending the contract of Victor Oladipo and three second-round picks to Memphis for center Steven Adams.

The deal came together quickly and the Rockets had a small window to get it done, hence why this trade was made with a week to go until the trade deadline.

The Price

When you consider that Memphis did this for cost savings primarily and that Adams would not play for any team in the league this season, the price seemed a little high to me. The Rockets gave up the OKC second-round pick this year, which is no big loss, but they also give up the better of Brooklyn’s or Golden State’s second-round pick this season. That’s a pretty good pick (likely in the late 30’s). They also give up the better of Houston’s or OKC’s second-round pick in 2025. If things go as planned for the Rockets, that pick should be in the 45-55 range.

But they didn’t sacrifice a first-round pick, which would have been brutal, and they were not going to use all those seconds this season. So it’s just a matter of opportunity cost — who else could they have gotten for this package?

My understanding is they (particularly Ime Udoka) are very high on Adams.

The Rockets also did this move for cap purposes as well. By moving out the Oladipo contract, which was expiring, and bringing in Adams’ deal, which is signed for $12.4M next season, the window for the Rockets to put together a trade package for a star player is extended out until the 2025 trade deadline. They continue to wait to see which players, if any, shake loose here and become available. They want flexible (see: expiring) contracts that they can combine with assets and this gives them another year to be in that position.

The Trade

It’s not often that the Rockets acquire a player I had not considered beforehand but that’s the case with Steven Adams. The Rockets sorely need a big with size that provides more traditional center strengths, making Clint Capela, Robert Williams, Nick Richards or Daniel Gafford potential candidates, but Adams was overlooked for a few reasons.

First, the 30-year old big man is out for the season after knee surgery cost him the entire 2023-24 campaign, so the Rockets won’t get any benefit from this trade this season. Secondly, Adams is not your traditional center either when it comes to rim protection.

But what Adams does do, he’s really good at and he has some of the same strengths of Brook Lopez, who the Rockets tried to sign in the offseason. Adams is quite possibly the strongest guy in the league and a legitimate 6-foot-11 with a 7-foot-5 wingspan. He’s an outstanding screen-setter, something that could really benefit the likes of Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson and Jalen Green. He was also an elite rebounder last season, finishing 6th in the league in caroms at 11.5 a game despite playing just 27.0 minutes a contest.

After watching Jonas Valanciunas absolutely bully the Rockets inside on Wednesday, it should be apparent by now to everyone that this was a pretty big need.

In 2021-22, the Memphis Grizzlies finished #2 in the West at 56-26. Their top two players in Net Rating that season were Dillon Brooks (+11.0) and Adams (+8.3), key cogs in a defense that held opponents to 108.6 points per 100 possessions. They’re both now Houston Rockets.

So this adds another trusted vet to Ime Udoka’s rotation.

The question is will the 30-year old Adams return to form after the knee injury? Adams sprained the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee a year ago, which cost him the end of that season and the playoffs. He tried rehabbing it and it never got better, so surgery became the option just as this season was kicking off.

I like to think the Rockets did their due diligence on that, despite the short time it took for this deal to come together, but that’s unclear.

If he does bounce back, then Udoka has a big man he can turn to reliably in situational matchups or on nights when the younger bigs struggle. He wouldn’t be Boban or even Jock Landale in that scenario — he’s going to play, so the frontcourt depth in 2024-25 should be better. In the end, they got a starting-caliber center who will have no problems coming off the bench, and that’s what they were looking for.

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Houston Rockets

On the KPJ trade and future of the Rockets

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The Houston Rockets are back to being a professional NBA team once again.

The Rockets finally ended the Kevin Porter Jr. era on Tuesday, coughing up two second-round picks in order to unload his contract to the Oklahoma City Thunder, getting back the contract of Victor Oladipo and third-year forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. The move puts an end to a long investment and very rocky tenure with KPJ.

David Weiner joined Dave Hardisty on the ClutchFans podcast to discuss the Porter Jr. Experiment, the price paid to move him, Houston’s potential trade options moving forward, the new culture and the current state of the Rockets young core.

ClutchFans Podcast: On Apple | Spotify

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