Houston Rockets Daily Rocket Science – We officially have a problem
By Chris Stanley
I’ve been waiting to pull this one out of the bag… Houston, we have a problem.
Forget losing to the Sacramento Kings last night who were down Rajon Rondo, the Houston Rockets have bigger issues than beating teams they’re clearly better than.
Tuesday turned into a mushroom cloud of roster rumors as multiple reports surfaced about multiple players for the Rockets. Dwight Howard isn’t happy, Terrence Jones is still reportedly on the move and Houston is still below .500 – nothing has changed.
Right as you think this team heading back to normal straights – the ship goes under again. As a fan, it’s exhausting and frustrating. As a writer, it’s confusing and fascinating. Either way, I still have no idea what’s going on in Houston.
To make things worse? I’m having to stay up until 12:30 ET to wait on the Rockets to lose and write this thing. I’m too tired to deal with this mess, but I care too much about y’all to drop a day. Let’s get to it.
Houston Rockets news and notes from around the web
As mentioned earlier, trades will be the theme for today’s DRS. First, let’s deal with the Dwight rumors. The report is Howard is unhappy with his current situation in Houston playing the Robin to James Harden’s Batman. With the current atmosphere surrounding the team, it would make sense to see him on the move. The rampant speculation? – – Is that he’d wind up with the Miami Heat with Houston receiving… *gulp* Hassan Whiteside.
Miami Heat Rumors: Dwight Howard Could Be Traded to Heat by February [Heat Nation – D.J. Siddiqi]
"The key piece in this possible trade is Hassan Whiteside. The Heat will likely find it tough to re-sign the 26-year-old center when he becomes a free agent in 2016. With Howard also likely to become a free agent in 2016, it makes sense for both organizations to get rid of two players they are unlikely to re-sign."
And… more Terrence Jones rumors. After weeks of rumors, the Jones reports have finally been confirmed. Jones apparently has “several” teams interested in his services, although the only destination we’ve heard about so far is the Phoenix Suns for Markieff Morris. Ty Lawson’s name appears in the article too, but it doesn’t seem plausible right now that he’ll be the one on the move.
Rockets exploring trades for Terrence Jones, but not Ty Lawson [CBS NBA – Matt Moore]
"So instead, Houston is probably smart to explore trading Jones. It’s been obvious for a while the Rockets can’t keep both of their talented young forwards in Jones and Dontatas Motiejunas. Ther latter has been a better player who helped the team to the No. 2 seed last year when Dwight Howard missed most of the year. Jones is a stretch four who can hit from range and has the physical tools to be a quality defender when he gets older and has a wider knowledge base. He could get good value on the market."
Finally here’s a piece to tie all of this trade-turmoil crap together. Howard, Jones, Lawson… where could they go? Why would they go? Would it help? Hurt? Who really knows at this point. Our very own Andre Cantalogo does a good job of sorting out through all the mess, and there’s a couple of names you wouldn’t expect to appear on the trading block.
Houston Rockets: Trade Season is Now Open! [Space City Scoop – Andre Cantalogo]
"Taking a scan of the National media and around social media the three players fans and pundits seem to be in agreement that should be on the chopping block due to their performances are Ty Lawson, Terrence Jones and Dwight Howard."
Take a good look folks. It could be one of the last times you see this in a Houston uniform:
.@DwightHoward throwing it down! #NBAVotehttps://t.co/cnEcW0nPdi
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) December 15, 2015
Next: Houston Rockets Reportedly Shopping Terrence Jones
I have no other thoughts on the Rockets, other than I’ll be up ’til 1:00 A.M. on Thursday night waiting on the Rockets to finishing playing the Los Angeles Lakers. Normally, I’d say “beating” instead of playing – but at this point I’m just not sure of anything anymore.