Houston Rockets
Asik Trade Demand Doubles The Trouble For Rockets
With Omer Asik requesting a trade yet again, the Rockets may be pushed into making a move sooner than they want.
McHale said Omer Asik was not feeling well, but he did not look happy on the bench Thursday
So Omer Asik has requested a trade. Again.
How exactly did we arrive at this quandary? Well, you could really make an argument that both parties are right and both are wrong.
The Rockets absolutely should have signed Dwight Howard — he’s the best center in the game. On the other hand, it makes no sense to be in this spot, 10 games into the season and wasting one of the NBA’s best defensive centers by nailing him to the pine. Asik, if he has any pride, is right to be upset as he is. After all, he was one of the primary reasons the Rockets were in the playoffs last year and he’s still growing as a player. He deserves to play, but he’s taking the wrong approach by letting it impact his play on the court.
So let’s talk about what’s next. I’ll reiterate what we’ve been saying since the summer: Omer Asik is going to be traded. There’s no getting around that. His contract is up after next season and he’s not inking another deal in Houston. When Asik is traded is the question, and that’s why the timing of this trade demand is compounding the problem.
The Rockets really needed the Twin Towers lineup to work, at least to the point where it could be used consistently. It isn’t because they feel that’s the long-term solution, but because they need to be in a state where they don’t have to make a trade… until the right trade opens up. That means they need Asik satisfied and the squad winning at a decent clip so front offices around the league don’t circle the Toyota Center like vultures on a carcass.
With that experiment failing (so far), the Rockets can’t make use of a very effective player. This isn’t anything like the Jeremy Lin–Patrick Beverley debate, which is much ado about nothing. With two interchangeable guard spots and occasional three-guard lineups, there’s no reason that both Lin and Beverley can’t log 30 minutes a night. If the Rockets can’t play Dwight and Omer together, that caps Asik’s minutes to about 12 a night, tops.
So with Asik logging very few minutes, the Rockets are getting little from a prime asset. Combine that with his unhappiness and the timeline to make a move may be accelerating on Daryl Morey, yet he can’t just trade Asik for simply a useful player — this is his chief trade asset to improve this team.
Ideally, you want to get closer to the trade deadline to field your best offers and see which teams change directions. The dream was to see either Minnesota (Kevin Love) or Portland (LaMarcus Aldridge) fall short of expectations, but both of those teams have come out of the gate strong. There’s no reason to think either team will trade their best players (certainly not right now).
The Rockets need a power forward that has, at a minimum, a strong mid-range game. Without Asik, the Rockets have a backup center issue, so in a perfect world, this four would have the ability to slide over and give the Rockets minutes at the center position in smaller lineups. That’s what makes both Love and Aldridge terrific fits.
The Lakers (4-6) and Pau Gasol are interesting. Gasol is a free agent this summer and any trade would be difficult given that his salary is a beast to match ($19.3M). New Orleans (3-6) would seem to be a good fit — Ryan Anderson is a floor-spacing four with deadly three-point efficiency while Asik could hold down the paint alongside Anthony Davis. Atlanta (4-4) is another intriguing possibility as many think Al Horford is better suited at the four than five. The Hawks recently signed Paul Millsap, who might fit well here (though he can’t be traded until December 15th).
If the Rockets can’t make the kind of trade they need now, I wouldn’t be surprised if they Kyle Lowry-ed this thing, flipping Asik for an asset (first round pick) that would be more attractive to rebuilding teams for a follow-up move. Teams looking to the future are the ideal trade partners for Houston right now since they would be looking to unload win-now talent for draft considerations.
But make no mistake — Asik is going to get traded. It may be this week, this February or this summer, but his days in Houston are numbered.
Houston Rockets
Podcast: Doncic to Lakers, Fox to Spurs and the Trade Deadline for the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
How the stunning Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers impacts the Houston Rockets
Dallas did the unthinkable by trading their superstar – what does this mean for Houston now and in the future?
Late Saturday night, the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis and a 2029 first-round pick.
I know, it doesn’t seem even remotely real. This is the most shocking sports trade of my lifetime. I can’t think of one bigger nor one more unbelievable.
The Mavericks have to know something about Doncic that we don’t. It’s being reported that his poor conditioning, weight issues and looming supermax contract were the biggest factors, but this is a young phenom who is hypercompetitive. He might very well haunt Dallas for a long time.
It’s an absolutely fascinating move. So how does this impact the Houston Rockets now and in the future?
The Rockets Couldn’t Get Luka?
The first reaction is of course, “Luka Doncic was available?!?” That leads to the inevitable question of why the Rockets didn’t get involved.
The simple answer is they didn’t know. Nobody really did — and it would not have mattered if they did.
This is a classic example of how sometimes in the NBA, it doesn’t matter how big of a treasure trove of assets you have. What matters is having the right single asset. Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison wanted Anthony Davis and that was that. The Rockets, with all their youth and picks, would not have been able to compete for Luka because they couldn’t help Harrison with his goals.
At the same time, this has to be maddening for Rockets GM Rafael Stone and the Houston front office, who have tried to position themselves for just such a trade when it became available. Doncic is 25-years old and was seen as an untouchable top-5 player, a dream target, the kind of player teams fantasize about stealing — yet the Mavericks booted him out of Dallas like a bad tenant in the dead of night. No league-wide bidding war — just unceremoniously traded while 28 other teams sat clueless, never even getting a shot at the prize.
Dallas could have had their pick of top young players and draft choices had they made this an actual competition so this trade will be questioned and second-guessed for many years to come.
Rockets Control Dallas’ 2029 first-round pick
There is a silver lining for the Rockets and that’s the control they have on Dallas’ 2029 first-round pick (unprotected).
The Houston Rockets own the right to potentially receive or swap the Dallas Mavericks first-round pick in 2029.
Kyrie Irving will turn 37 years old that season and Anthony Davis will turn 36. pic.twitter.com/JTwz0PA871
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) February 2, 2025
Dallas traded that pick to Brooklyn in the deal for Kyrie Irving in 2023. Brooklyn gave control of the pick to Houston as part of the deal to get their own picks (2025, 2026) back this past summer. So the Rockets control the best two first-round picks (unprotected) out of Phoenix, Dallas and Houston’s own first in the year 2029.
In this deal, Dallas’ core got older. Irving will turn 37 in the 2028-29 season and Davis will turn 36. This is four years away so a tremendous amount can change between now and then, but on paper it is a strong positive indicator for the value of that pick.
Keep in mind, the Rockets are unlikely to actually use this draft pick — they’re more likely to trade it to strengthen their current roster. So, what actually happens to Dallas four years from now isn’t as important as how teams around the league perceive the value of that pick right now and in the near future.
This looks like a potential win for Stone, Patrick Fertitta and the Rockets front office.
Impact on Western Conference
Both the Lakers (currently 5th seed) and Mavericks (currently 8th) are potential first-round matchups for the Rockets this postseason.
Los Angeles: The Lakers may have taken a short-term hit, but if Luka’s conditioning issues can be fixed, this trade completely revitalizes their future. Before this move, Los Angeles was still relying on a 40-year-old LeBron James with no clear path forward, especially with their draft picks already limited. Now, they’ve managed to land Doncic, who put up 33.9 points, 9.8 assists, and 9.2 rebounds per game last season at just 24 years old, in exchange for a 31-year-old Davis. That’s highway robbery.
The NBA just handed the Lakers another superstar lifeline (like Shaquille O’Neal, like Pau Gasol, like Chris “Basketball Reasons” Paul, like LeBron James, like Anthony Davis) and they took full advantage.
But right now, this is an odd fit. The Lakers have no size. More moves have to be on the way here so stay tuned on how the Rockets match up with this squad.
Dallas: Luka had been out for over a month and the Mavericks have been slipping. Dallas says they want to focus on defense and they do get that in Davis. They went from relying on two forces on the perimeter to putting the ball in Kyrie’s hands as the leader and leveraging their size in Davis, Derrick Lively (when he returns healthy) and Daniel Gafford.
The Rockets have excellent perimeter defenders, but their lack of interior rim protection makes it tough to handle Davis and any additional size next to him. This could be a real challenge for Alperen Sengun. While Sengun offensively dominated Gafford in their last matchup, he struggled against Lively — and Davis is on a whole different level.
But can Amen Thompson, Tari Eason and Dillon Brooks take out the head of the snake in Kyrie? Three-point shooting efficiency will likely be the key against Dallas. I think this is a tougher matchup for Houston right now, but long term, I think this really helps the Rockets. We will find out soon as Houston faces the Mavericks (without Lively) this Saturday.
One last potentially positive note to close on: Texas is fertile ground for free agents. No state income tax and warm weather have always been draws for NBA players, so having young superstars like Victor Wembanyama and Luka Doncic playing for your two rivals in the state had the potential to make things problematic when recruiting players trying to win a championship. Dallas loses that draw and becomes a team with a much smaller window… and who wants to live in San Antonio over Houston?