The Houston Rockets misfired through the first passage of the season. Then, we saw an MVP-caliber James Harden that went on a historic scoring run unlikely to be matched any time soon in the league.
However, come playoff time, the lack of depth and Mike D’Antoni’s playing style were truly exposed, and Daryl Morey has now made everybody – but Harden and Chris Paul – available in trade talks.
Moreover, this team doesn’t have much spare cash to spend in the offseason, so they can only target mid-level free agents that are willing to take a pay cut in order to compete for a Championship. Today, we’re going to let you know about the 6 players they should pursue:
6. Jeremy Lamb
Jeremy Lamb is coming off a solid season and he’s always been a nice offensive spark off the bench. He’s not going to give you much on other aspects of the game, but he can create his own shot and that’s great for D’Antoni’s system.
Also, with Paul and Harden attacking the lane, he’d have a ton of wide-open attempts from three-point land. It’s a long shot, but he’s a great low-risk / high-reward kind of pickup for the Rockets.
5. Bojan Bogdanovic
Most reports point towards Bojan Bogdanovic resigning with the Indiana Pacers, where he’s had the best years of his brief career in the NBA. However, they’re likely to have to pay him a lot of money in order to convince him.
So, if the Rockets do several trades to clear some of their cap space and the Pacers aren’t willing to overpay for him, they could make a run at one of the league’s best three-point shooters, who also happens to be an underrated defender.
4. Danny Green
With Marc Gasol opting in on the last year of his contract with the Toronto Raptors, that could either main they’ll run it back with Kawhi Leonard, or that they’ll try to keep Danny Green on board as well.
However, the money will be tight at Canada right now so Green may be looking for a change of airs. The Rockets need a 3-and-D specialist that comes cheap and has plenty of Championship experience. He checks all the boxes.
3. Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose is coming off the best season of his post-injury career and he definitely proved that he’s worthy of another shot in the NBA, so the Houston Rockets might as well try and bring him on board this season.
Rose won’t ask for much money and he could either come off the bench or even play next to Harden and Paul. He puts a lot of pressure on the defense and while he’s not much of a shooter, he can really find his sweet spots.
2. Brook Lopez
Brook Lopez would be a perfect fit for Mike D’Antoni’s run-and-gun kind of play. He’s a good rim-runner and his new-found stroke from beyond the arc would finally give him an all-shooters lineup.
However, bringing him most likely means that they’ll have to find a new team for Clint Capela, and the Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly really high on Lopez so they’ll try to keep him on board this summer.
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1. Jimmy Butler
Jimmy Butler is a Texas native and he was spotted in the Houston area earlier in the week. He’s a fierce player that thrives off competition and that could really help this team take a step forward in the playoffs.
However, the Rockets are going to have to convince him to try and work a deal out with the Philadelphia 76ers to perform a sign-and-trade that would most likely send Eric Gordon and/or Clint Capela to Philadelphia.
