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Houston Rockets add Brandan Wright after buyout

By Eric Spyropoulos

(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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After not making a move at the 2018 NBA Trade Deadline, the Houston Rockets have begun adding talent through buyouts. First up: veteran big man Brandan Wright.

The Houston Rockets were inactive at the 2018 NBA Trade Deadline, and rightly so. When you have a team that is playing as well as the Rockets are while the players seem to get along, you don’t mess with the chemistry and rotations too significantly.

However, what was expected was that Houston would be very active on the buyout market, and the dominoes appear to be falling. Yahoo! Sports‘ Shams Charania reported that veteran big man Brandan Wright will join the Rockets after completing a buyout from the Memphis Grizzlies.

Wright has appeared in just 27 games (366 minutes) for Memphis this season, averaging 5.0 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. He has struggled to stay on the floor in recent seasons, as he has played less than 30 games in each season since 2014-15.

However, Wright does provide a vertical (alley-oop) threat for Houston and is capable of switching defensively. Wright has capable hands and has always been a solid finisher around the rim, shooting 74.3 percent from within three feet of the rim for his career. Wright plays a more similar style to Clint Capela than Nene does, so it will certainly be interesting to see how the big man rotation looks moving forward.

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    • Defensively, Wright averages a block per game for his career, but isn’t known as a true rim protector that scares away opposing guards. However, Wright does own a career 1.2 defensive box plus-minus and is more than capable of keeping up laterally on switches than Nene is at this point in his career.

    With the Rockets having two of the best playmakers in the league in Chris Paul and James Harden, having another big that can finish above the rim is extremely useful and valuable.

    It is certainly possible that Houston plans to rest Nene even more down the stretch of the regular season in order to have him as fresh as possible for the playoffs, where Nene’s physicality will be needed.

    Perhaps more importantly, this puts Tarik Black‘s status with the team in question. It would be hard to see Houston keeping four rotation quality big men on the team, especially considering their reported interest in Joe Johnson. The Rockets may simply view Wright as an upgrade over Black and have him supplant him in the rotation, playing on nights where Nene is injured or resting.

    Wright plays a similar style to Capela, which would provide Harden and Paul a rim-running, vertical threat big man to play alongside with whenever he is on the court. Throw in Nene’s under-the-rim touch and physicality and you get a very good and capable center rotation moving forward and in the playoffs.

    Next: Biggest winners and losers of the 2018 NBA Trade Deadline

    Wright is finally healthy and ready to join a contender. Houston will likely make another move before they finalize its roster moving froward, but adding Wright fits the team’s play style and goals, making it a natural signing and fit for both parties.

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