7 players the Houston Rockets can land through trade exceptions

3. Monte Morris

Monte Morris is another guard who is a 3-point sniper, which the Rockets could use to cut down on the minutes for James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Morris is shooting 41.2 percent from downtown, which would easily be the best on the Houston Rockets this season.

But it’s not as if this is a fluke, Morris shot even better during the 2018-19 season as he shot 41.4 percent from distance. Morris has provided 14.9 points and 6.6 assists per 36 minutes, which would benefit the Rockets greatly.

The Denver Nuggets have only played the sharpshooter 18.2 minutes per game this season, which begs the question of whether the Nuggets really need the third-year guard. Morris is averaging 7.5 points per game on the minutes the Nuggets are giving him, which would be much higher if he were donning a Rockets uniform.

As Morris is making $1.58 million this season, the Rockets could use the trade exception they landed during the Nik Stauskas trade to land Morris, which would buy them more time than the ‘Melo exception which expires on January 22nd. The 24- year-old guard is under contract through the 2020-21 season, but you’d have to think the Nuggets would happily take draft compensation for a player they aren’t necessarily relying on.

From the Rockets’ standpoint, it’s easy to understand why they could use Morris, as he had the sixth-best offensive rating in the league during the 2018-19 season and the fifth-best offensive rating on the Nuggets during the 2019-20 season. Although Morris doesn’t necessarily have the size to be an asset on the defensive end, his elite 3-point shooting ability would be a massive threat alongside James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

Next: No. 2