Rockets News: Rockets acquire Cody Zeller in last-minute deadline deal

The Houston Rockets like big men.

The organization has a rich history of talented centers. Hakeem Olajuwon is the patron saint of Rockets basketball. Alperen Sengun looks to join a historic group including Moses Malone, Yao Ming, and others.

Cody Zeller probably won't join the pantheon. Still, he's officially a Rocket.

The team acquired him at the trade deadline's final hour.

Rockets land veteran big man

Even the modern-day Rockets seem to like bigs. They are stockpiling them.

Alperen Sengun is entrenched as the starter. He's got Steven Adams, Jock Landale and now Zeller behind him. Where does he fit into the equation?

He's unlikely to usurp Adams. Zeller's Box Plus/Minus (BPM) of -2.6 falls well behind Adams' 0.3 mark. Zeller may compete with Landale for third-string opportunities, although Landale does provide some floor spacing that Zeller does not.

Realistically, Zeller hasn't been providing much in 2024-25. He's playing just 7.6 minutes per game. At 32, he may be approaching the end of his career.

Why bother acquiring him at all?

Rockets get some draft capital in deal

The Rockets also got their own 2028 second-round pick back. That's likely the meat and potatoes here.

The full details haven't been released yet. The Athletic's Kelly Iko is reporting that the Hawks are receiving the rights to Alpha Kaba in return.

...Let's all pretend that we know who that is.

The bottom line is that this is a marginal move. The Rockets largely stood pat at this year's deadline. Zeller may see the floor in the event of injuries - more than we can say for Kaba - but this was mostly about securing the 2028 second-round pick. It's not a large deal. If you're not a Rockets diehard, you are unlikely to care that it transpired.

It does leave the Rockets with a surplus of bigs - as usual.