I try to use this space to write high-brow (by sports standards) pieces about the Houston Rockets.<\/p>\n
Firstly, SB Nation is the best. There is absolute freedom here. I\u2019ve also noticed that you guys are a super bright readership. You want conceptual stuff, or at least you respond positively to it.<\/p>\n
That said, if not for unadulterated capitalism, we\u2019d shut \u2018er down in August. There is no meat on the bone right now. There is nothing to talk about that hasn\u2019t been talked about.<\/p>\n
Since we can\u2019t do that, here are three players the Rockets should consider trading for this season.<\/p>\n
Duncan Robinson, Detroit Pistons<\/p>\n
You can safely expect shooters on this list.<\/p>\n
After Reed Sheppard and Kevin Durant, there remains zero (0) Rockets whom teams are desperate to close out from beyond the arc. Jabari Smith Jr. is a capable shooter at 6\u201911\u201d, but an open Smith three is a negative outcome for an opposing defense – not a disaster.<\/p>\n
If I wrote an article about Sheppard\u2019s outlook on this team, it\u2019d be the second or third time. Having added Marcus Smart, it feels unlikely that he\u2019ll increase his playing time. So it feels likely that leading up to the deadline, it will once again be clear that this team does not have enough reliable three-point shooting to win the math game.<\/p>\n
Robinson is not a prolific defender either, but at 6\u20197\u201d, he\u2019s easier to scheme around than the diminutive Sheppard. He shot 41.0% from deep last year, which was effectively just another Duncan Robinson season. He\u2019s also quietly improved as a ball-handler and playmaker over the years.<\/p>\n
Although it\u2019s possible that Udoka just wouldn\u2019t play him either.<\/p>\n
Ty Jerome, Memphis Grizzlies<\/p>\n
If we\u2019re going to pick nits, there\u2019s a potential issue with every player on this list. You won\u2019t see the name Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Victor Wembanyama here, so we\u2019ll be looking at quality players with flaws.<\/p>\n
Jerome\u2019s biggest issue is that he can\u2019t stay on the floor. Injuries have been a problem for years. Last year, he looked like a fringe star – until his season ended in 15 games.<\/p>\n
In those games, he averaged 19.7 points and 5.7 assists per game while shooting 42.0% from distance. That\u2019s a certified hooper. Jerome can play with or without the ball. He\u2019s also got a reputation as a smart team defender who Udoka, at least, shouldn\u2019t loathe with the heat of a thousand suns.<\/p>\n
The other downside for the Rockets specifically is that Jerome is a backcourt player. Acquiring him would be tantamount to giving up on Sheppard.<\/p>\n
So, if that\u2019s how we\u2019re trending going into the deadline anyway\u2026<\/p>\n
Zeke Nnaji, Denver Nuggets<\/p>\n
The Rockets have acquired a lot of big men over recent years, but somehow, none of them space the floor.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s ample debate around the value of stretch big men. Some will argue that if you\u2019re not a great shooter, it\u2019s not especially useful to shoot.<\/p>\n
In a vacuum, there\u2019s some truth there. When you roster both Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun, a combo big who provides some shooting ought to be useful. Enter Nnaji. He\u2019s a versatile defender who\u2019s hit 34.5% of his threes over his six years in the NBA.<\/p>\n
No, he doesn\u2019t meet the \u201cif he gets daylight we\u2019ve failed as a defense\u201d threshold. He could still mitigate some spacing issues this team faces. The Rockets could put four-out groups around Amen Thompson with Nnaji at the 5, and could soak up a few minutes with Sengun at the 4 occasionally as well.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t need high conceptual thinking to see that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I try to use this space to write high-brow (by sports standards) pieces about the Houston Rockets. Firstly,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":819373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[7,301,187,3943,65342,6,302,5320,5319],"class_list":["post-819372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-nuggets","tag-basketball","tag-denver","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-denvernuggets","tag-houston-rockets-discussion","tag-nba","tag-nuggets","tag-rockets-rumors","tag-rockets-trade-rumors"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117149871841306148","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}