NBA Trade Grades: Milwaukee Bucks Deal For Michael Beasley
Houston Rockets
For the Houston Rockets, this deal was partially about getting Michael Beasley off the books. He played well enough in a bench role as the team’s designated scorer off the pine, but he was really only there to fill a need at power forward with Donatas Motiejunas hurt.
Getting the remaining $1.4 million of Beasley’s contracts off the books hardly clears out any significant cap space, especially since Ennis will actually be paid more this season, but this could be an “addition by subtraction” kind of move.
It’s not that Beasley was bad during his limited time with the Rockets, or that he had a negative impact on the locker room. But with a surly leader like James Harden and a locker room desperately trying to build chemistry, having a guy like Beasley around might not have been conducive to forward progress.
Parting with another player who could log minutes at the power forward position seems like a bad idea for a Rockets squad that only has Ryan Anderson (a sixth man) and Montrezl Harrell (a second-year 4) as players who can log minutes at power forward.
However, even if Josh Smith won’t be coming back, this trade could indicate some optimism on the Donatas Motiejunas front. A restricted free agent, D-Mo and the Rockets have been unable to reach an agreement on a contract extension, with training camp just days away. Perhaps now that Beasley is gone and the need is dire, the two sides will reach a common ground.
Bucks needed another scoring forward with Khris Middleton out. For Rockets, it could indicate confidence about signing Motiejunas.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) September 22, 2016
Houston’s return in the trade, Tyler Ennis, likely won’t have much of an impact. With the way his career has gone in his first two NBA seasons, you might even go as far as thinking he might be waived, since he’s owed $1.7 million this season ($0.3 million more than Beasley) with a $2.7 million team option for 2017-18.
However, since the Rockets only have Patrick Beverley and Pablo Prigioni at the point guard position, Ennis should stick on the roster through training camp to provide Houston with emergency depth in the backcourt.
Next: NBA Predictions:2016-17 Win Total Projections For All 30 Teams
Ennis is still only 22 years old, and though he’s shown zero signs of being a legitimate NBA player so far, the Rockets could use him in a pinch if training camp invites like Gary Payton II and Isaiah Taylor don’t work out.
Grade: B-