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Houston Rockets: Trade Deadline Extravaganza

By Mauricio Putz

Nov 14, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard K.J. McDaniels (14) brings the ball up the court during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the 76ers 88-87. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 14, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard K.J. McDaniels (14) brings the ball up the court during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the 76ers 88-87. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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It was a rather calm Wednesday within the basketball world. Of course, the NBA’s Trade Deadline was coming at 3 p.m., but the lack of rumors, leaks, and “league sources” reports hinted it would be a dull one.

And then… Within roughly 20 minutes, the league went into full trade-mode so abruptly that it even took the league’s most reliable source out of script.

Eight percent of the league got traded.

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Earlier in the day it seemed as if the Houston Rockets were not interested in making any kind of moves. There was not even a hint of action coming out of their front office. At least that’s what we thought.

Fortunately, we couldn’t have been more wrong. Daryl Morey — the Michael Jordan of statistics and scouting — had to be a part of such an impressive trade deadline and reinforced the Houston Rockets’ underachieving point-guard position.

Of course, in true Morey fashion, he didn’t go after Denver Nuggets‘ Ty Lawson (Denver eventually took him off the table), Phoenix Suns‘ Goran Dragic (He wanted to play for a contender. However, apparently he believes the top contenders in the league are the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and New York Knicks. Yes, he believes we’re in the 90’s), nor Oklahoma City Thunder‘s Reggie Jackson.

Instead, Morey went after the Knicks’ Pablo Prigioni and the Philadelphia 76ers‘ K.J. McDaniels and dealt Isaiah Canaan.

Not too shabby.

With Pablo Prigioni’s addition, the Houston Rockets now can replace Isaiah Canaan with a 50/40 point-guard. Also, even though Prigioni’s upside is limited — to say the least — it’ll mostly be K.J. McDaniels taking over the offense when future-MVP James Harden isn’t.

(Note: Even though Jose Calderon would’ve been a better incorporation than Prigioni…)

RkPlayerSeasonAgeGSMPFGAFG%3PA3P%2PA2P%FTAFT%TRBASTPTS
1Jose Calderon2014-15333930.28.4.4243.4.4365.0.4150.7.9633.14.69.3
2Pablo Prigioni2014-1537318.53.7.4222.7.3741.1.5430.6.8461.92.44.7

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/19/2015.

Now, by getting K.J. McDaniels, the Rockets didn’t get the best available player either, however, they did get a super-athletic rookie with a HUGE upside. Throughout 15 games with one of the worst teams in the league, McDaniels scored 9.2 points per game rate with 8.2 field goal attempts per game.

However, as you can see by his shooting chart below, his shot-selection is kind of similar to the one used by the pace-and-space Rockets’ offense. And even though it might need some tweaking, roughly 84-percent of his shots come from inside paint or beyond the arc.

KJ
KJ /

We still don’t know exactly how the previous deals will work out — if at all — for the Rockets, but rest assured that, once they get into rhythm and find themselves within the team, this will be an improvement, even if slight, for the team.

However, even though they’re mostly good news for the Houston Rockets, almost every single contending team in the Western Conference — with the exception of the San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, and Los Angeles Clippers — got something valuable before today’s deadline. Thus, making their title pursuit a wee bit more complicated.

The Houston Rockets take on the Dallas Mavericks on the road to kick-off their season’s second-half.

Next: Should The Rockets Pursue Calderon?

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