Houston Rockets Hot Takes: Alexey Shved/Corey Brewer Trade Analysis

The Houston Rockets activity yesterday concluded with the addition of Corey Brewer and Alexey Shved for Troy Daniels (To Minnesota), Francisco Garcia (Cut), the rights to Sergei Lishouk, and a trio of second round picks. I wrote yesterday morning that the Rockets needed to respond to the Rajon Rondo deal. Houston did as much without overreacting by pursuing a big name player and losing assets. Houston retained its New Orleans Pelicans first round pick and lost a pair of fringe rotation players.

First, let’s look at what the Rockets lost. Troy Daniels departs the Rockets having averaged 32 percent from three in six minutes a game for the Rockets. Daniels departs as a bench floor spacer with a streaky shooting rapport and a drastically reduced offensive rating from his debut year. Garcia departs the Rockets carrying his lowest three-point percentage of his career (22 percent) averaging 14.3 minutes per game in his 14 appearances for the Rockets. Garcia also sported his lowest offensive rating of his career before being cut from the roster.

Lishouk is a Ukranian power forward standing 6’11” and one is best summarized with the vague praise all European players receive, he is well rounded but good at nothing with upside. His prospects of seeing game time for the Rockets were never realistic. Both second round picks heading to Minnesota are protected, one belonging to the Kings (acquired by the Rockets in September) and another belonging to Houston (2016). Philadelphia received a second-round pick in 2015 for taking Ronny Turiaf’s contract. To date, the entire second round of the NBA draft will consist of the Sixers handing over a list of 30 players for the deputy commissioner to announce. Although second round picks are Morey’s specialty, these deals were necessary to solidify Houston’s bench.

Dec 10, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Corey Brewer (13) shoots during the third quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Target Center. The Timberwolves defeated the Trail Blazers 90-82. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Brewer, as detailed yesterday, is a gambler with horrible defensive metrics. One-on-one, he’s a poor defender. In a scheme with enough honest defenders, he’s a gambler who comes up big and punishes teams in transition. For the Rockets second unit, this is critical. Most of the second unit can’t create their own shot and suffers with interior defense. The bench’s best hope to contribute to the team is to continue playing defensively and run the other team’s bench off the court. Brewer brings that in short order. We haven’t discussed Alexey Shved, though.

Full disclosure, I was a huge fan of Shved when he announced his entry into the draft. The 6’6” Russian guard brings size, clean basketball, and great passing sensibilities. Defensively he’s a little below league average. Shved sports a 55 percent true shooting percentage this year with a 32 percent assist rate. His ability to handle the ball frees Isaiah Canaan up to score for the second unit and keep defenses honest enough shooting 30 percent from behind-the-arc. Shved averages roughly 17 minutes a game and gives roughly 10 points, three assists and one turnover in that time. In Houston, Shved will help lead half-court execution when the transition game isn’t available.

Shved’s initial scouting report hailed him as a natural point guard with a good off the dribble shot. Considering the second unit’s lack of self-sustaining players, Shved makes the game easier for a second unit that has consistently struggled to maintain leads built up by the starters. Expect Shved to come in to Houston and immediately find a role (much like Brewer). For those not in the know, Shved is rumored to be considering abandoning his NBA contract to return to Russia after this season. While Shved certainly has an NBA skill set, that could see him as a mainstay back up in Houston for quite some time, if he does go back to Europe, the Rockets could save themselves three million dollars for his abandonment. The Spurs were the last beneficiaries of this agreement, if you’ll recall, when the Rockets traded Vassilis Spanoulis to San Antonio and he subsequently left the NBA.

Nov 29, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Alexey Shved (88) dribbles past Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea (5) during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Between Brewer and Shved, the Rockets managed to get bigger, cover their back up shooting guard and small forward issues, and add a ball handler to the back court. Isaiah Canaan has shown the capacity to score and play off the ball. Shved allows Canaan to no longer worry about ball handling duties. Brewer speaks to Houston’s quick attack approach but also emphasizes the fact that defense is a focus in Houston. The second unit will still have to address the lack of rim protection and viable power forward play, but the trade deadline is still two months away.

Dec 10, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward

Nicolas Batum

(88) passes around Minnesota Timberwolves forward Corey Brewer (13) during the first quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Overall, Houston managed to solidify its bench, utilize its trade player exception, hold onto its most valuable parts and create a differentiated plan of attack for its backups. The starters will execute an opportunistic transition and half court game with Dwight Howard and James Harden. The back ups will gamble defensively and look to run teams out of the building. When that fails, they have a capable ball handler in Shved to attack and distribute. Houston’s second unit of Canaan, Shved, Brewer, Kostas Papanikolaou, and Tarik Black will be a small ball unit running something vaguely similar to McHale’s first year with the Rockets (Run, read and react, etc…).