Idea: Brandon Bass/Courtney Lee/1st round pick for Omer Asik

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I'm not sure if Houston would like to acquire more long term contracts but the deal does kind of make sense.

Bass doesnt extend to the three but he does have 18-20 feet range so in a sense it opens up the floor a bit. Lee is added depth and a 1st rounder on loaded draft. Seems like giving up too much but we're getting a very good rebounder and solid inside defender in return.

How about trade Bogans instead of Lee. Bogans is an expiring  (technically) so Houston saves $5 million next year and get a 1st rounder and a complimentary PF for Asik. Done and done, Morey! CMON!

[McHales Pits]

I wouldn't offer the 1st in this deal...

Houston has limited leverage considering the combo isn't working on the floor and the player is demanding to be traded.

With Harden and Howard, Houston - in for a penny, in for a pound - should be ready to add significant role players to complement their stars in their quest to go deep in the playoffs. What their current roster lacks is perimeter defense, an alternate ball-handler, and floor spacing.

What do you know? Courtney Lee is a defensive guard that can shoot and ball handle and Brandon Bass is a floor spacing big with decent man defense.

They would match Houston's needs perfectly and we could use a defensive big like Asik to pair with our offensive ones.

One could pick out the flaws of Lee's and Bass' contracts, yet I would counter with Asik's ridiculous contract where he is set to be paid $15Million next season. I like the trade, I think it is fair as a straight up deal - I just disagree that a pick is needed.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I wouldn't give up a 1st round pick for Asik.

Othewise I'm tempted. I really like Lee and would love to keep him possible and find alternative ways to make a roster cap space flexible.

[Endless Paradise]

I'm not sure if Houston would like to acquire more long term contracts but the deal does kind of make sense.

Bass doesnt extend to the three but he does have 18-20 feet range so in a sense it opens up the floor a bit. Lee is added depth and a 1st rounder on loaded draft. Seems like giving up too much but we're getting a very good rebounder and solid inside defender in return.

How about trade Bogans instead of Lee. Bogans is an expiring  (technically) so Houston saves $5 million next year and get a 1st rounder and a complimentary PF for Asik. Done and done, Morey! CMON!

Look at the front page for the Rockets' shot chart. They're not just interested in floor spacing; they want efficient shots. That means eschewing mid-range and long 2s.  Aka, shying from Bass' whole game.

[McHales Pits]

I'm not sure if Houston would like to acquire more long term contracts but the deal does kind of make sense.

Bass doesnt extend to the three but he does have 18-20 feet range so in a sense it opens up the floor a bit. Lee is added depth and a 1st rounder on loaded draft. Seems like giving up too much but we're getting a very good rebounder and solid inside defender in return.

How about trade Bogans instead of Lee. Bogans is an expiring  (technically) so Houston saves $5 million next year and get a 1st rounder and a complimentary PF for Asik. Done and done, Morey! CMON!

Look at the front page for the Rockets' shot chart. They're not just interested in floor spacing; they want efficient shots. That means eschewing mid-range and long 2s.  Aka, shying from Bass' whole game.

I'd counter this by saying that their shot chart looks that way because they only have players who can score by driving. Defenses will soon adjust by packing the paint and going under screens. In fact, jump shooters would help open up lanes for their slashers and post-scorers.

[wdleehi]

It sounds like Houston knows who they want.  Until they are sure that door is closed, a team will have to blow off their socks to get him.

[aporel#18]

avoid Asik, and don't waste picks in lateral moves.

Patience is key, better opportunities will appear in December/January.

[Endless Paradise]

I'm not sure if Houston would like to acquire more long term contracts but the deal does kind of make sense.

Bass doesnt extend to the three but he does have 18-20 feet range so in a sense it opens up the floor a bit. Lee is added depth and a 1st rounder on loaded draft. Seems like giving up too much but we're getting a very good rebounder and solid inside defender in return.

How about trade Bogans instead of Lee. Bogans is an expiring  (technically) so Houston saves $5 million next year and get a 1st rounder and a complimentary PF for Asik. Done and done, Morey! CMON!

Look at the front page for the Rockets' shot chart. They're not just interested in floor spacing; they want efficient shots. That means eschewing mid-range and long 2s.  Aka, shying from Bass' whole game.

I'd counter this by saying that their shot chart looks that way because they only have players who can score by driving. Defenses will soon adjust by packing the paint and going under screens. In fact, jump shooters would help open up lanes for their slashers and post-scorers.

Your counter isn't close to reality: Lin, Harden, Parsons, Garcia, Casspi, etc. have all shown the ability to score with shooting. Houston's gameplan specifically calls for their players to take higher percentage shots.  The mid-range shot is the most inefficient shot in the game; therefore, they take as few mid-range shots as possible. Instead, they get to the paint - preferably the rim - or they launch 3s. It's what they did last year and what they're planning on doing this year.

That's what they want. Morey knows about the pros and the cons of a mid-range shot and he doesn't consider it worth it. Not much else to it.

[Birdman]

I think Asik asking price will come down later if he is still complaining and doesn't get many minutes

[ssspence]

Not really a sensible move for either side.

[BballTim]

I'm not sure if Houston would like to acquire more long term contracts but the deal does kind of make sense.

Bass doesnt extend to the three but he does have 18-20 feet range so in a sense it opens up the floor a bit. Lee is added depth and a 1st rounder on loaded draft. Seems like giving up too much but we're getting a very good rebounder and solid inside defender in return.

How about trade Bogans instead of Lee. Bogans is an expiring  (technically) so Houston saves $5 million next year and get a 1st rounder and a complimentary PF for Asik. Done and done, Morey! CMON!

Look at the front page for the Rockets' shot chart. They're not just interested in floor spacing; they want efficient shots. That means eschewing mid-range and long 2s.  Aka, shying from Bass' whole game.

I'd counter this by saying that their shot chart looks that way because they only have players who can score by driving. Defenses will soon adjust by packing the paint and going under screens. In fact, jump shooters would help open up lanes for their slashers and post-scorers.

Your counter isn't close to reality: Lin, Harden, Parsons, Garcia, Casspi, etc. have all shown the ability to score with shooting. Houston's gameplan specifically calls for their players to take higher percentage shots.  The mid-range shot is the most inefficient shot in the game; therefore, they take as few mid-range shots as possible. Instead, they get to the paint - preferably the rim - or they launch 3s. It's what they did last year and what they're planning on doing this year.

That's what they want. Morey knows about the pros and the cons of a mid-range shot and he doesn't consider it worth it. Not much else to it.

  Everyone knows that mid-range shots aren't efficient, teams end up taking quite a few of them anyways. Take a look at that Houston shot chart. See all the mid-range shots, both outside the paint and inside the paint but not at the rim? All of the 2-point shots in with the fg% under 40%? That's about 25% of their total number of fga.

[Endless Paradise]

I'm not sure if Houston would like to acquire more long term contracts but the deal does kind of make sense.

Bass doesnt extend to the three but he does have 18-20 feet range so in a sense it opens up the floor a bit. Lee is added depth and a 1st rounder on loaded draft. Seems like giving up too much but we're getting a very good rebounder and solid inside defender in return.

How about trade Bogans instead of Lee. Bogans is an expiring  (technically) so Houston saves $5 million next year and get a 1st rounder and a complimentary PF for Asik. Done and done, Morey! CMON!

Look at the front page for the Rockets' shot chart. They're not just interested in floor spacing; they want efficient shots. That means eschewing mid-range and long 2s.  Aka, shying from Bass' whole game.

I'd counter this by saying that their shot chart looks that way because they only have players who can score by driving. Defenses will soon adjust by packing the paint and going under screens. In fact, jump shooters would help open up lanes for their slashers and post-scorers.

Your counter isn't close to reality: Lin, Harden, Parsons, Garcia, Casspi, etc. have all shown the ability to score with shooting. Houston's gameplan specifically calls for their players to take higher percentage shots.  The mid-range shot is the most inefficient shot in the game; therefore, they take as few mid-range shots as possible. Instead, they get to the paint - preferably the rim - or they launch 3s. It's what they did last year and what they're planning on doing this year.

That's what they want. Morey knows about the pros and the cons of a mid-range shot and he doesn't consider it worth it. Not much else to it.

  Everyone knows that mid-range shots aren't efficient, teams end up taking quite a few of them anyways. Take a look at that Houston shot chart. See all the mid-range shots, both outside the paint and inside the paint but not at the rim? All of the 2-point shots in with the fg% under 40%? That's about 25% of their total number of fga.

I know, hence why I said they take as few as possible.  Regardless, shots in the paint are still more efficient than mid-range shots outside of the paint.  Look at stats.nba.com and you'll see the Rockets attempt the fewest number of mid-range (outside of the paint) shots.  This was also the case last year.  In fact, the Rockets were the only team to attempt less than 1000 mid-range shots last season, with the second-fewest attempted by the Nuggets (who took over 250 more of those shots).

The point remains that they don't do the mid-range game.  That's just their identity and they're certainly not changing it for Brandon Bass.

[fairweatherfan]

Look at the front page for the Rockets' shot chart. They're not just interested in floor spacing; they want efficient shots. That means eschewing mid-range and long 2s.  Aka, shying from Bass' whole game.

I'd counter this by saying that their shot chart looks that way because they only have players who can score by driving. Defenses will soon adjust by packing the paint and going under screens. In fact, jump shooters would help open up lanes for their slashers and post-scorers.

I think you're both right - long 2s aren't efficient but if done well they create space for higher-value shots. 

Basically, you don't want to take no long 2s at all, but you want to take as few as possible to get the defense to respect them and free up space for 3s and shots at the rim.  That's why Asik/Howard was a mess on offense - neither has any range.

Combining these two things, it seems like the ideal pairing for Howard (and the perimeter guys) is a low-usage guy who can stick jumpshots occasionally to keep the defense honest.  Whether that's Bass or not is a judgment for them to make.

[Endless Paradise]

Just for clarification, I'm not arguing against the mid-range shot: I'm just noting that the Rockets make a concerted effort to avoid mid-range shots, hence they're probably not interested in acquiring personnel that specializes in that particular type of scoring.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Asik is no team leader...he is a good role player....he is not worth any draft pick at all....he is not playing because he cannot even run as fast-slow as howard....what do you think he will do here...why do you think his last team let him go....