Houston Rockets: Could Trevor Ariza Be On The Trade Block?
Time just kept passing by…
Tick, tock, tick, tock…
As time progressed, no news was coming out of 1510 Polk St., the site of our beloved Toyota Center and the home offices of the Houston Rockets.
Things continued to be eerily quiet and the Rockets were nowhere to be found as if the executive team had been whisked away into the witness protection program.
But finally Rockets’ fans, we have liftoff and news started to flow quite freely yesterday evening which was good news for us and the Rockets.
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Adrian Wojnarowski was doing what he does best, breaking the news we need to know — luckily, it was pleasing for Rockets’ fans alike.
Wojnarowski reported that forward Corey Brewer had agreed to a three-year, $24 million deal:
This was a relief to me and I’m sure many other Rockets fans as I didn’t want to see him go.
He was a integral part of our rotation and they don’t call him the Energizer Bunny for nothing!
Nearly an hour later, we found out from Woj that Patrick Beverley had agreed to a four-year, $25 million deal:
And there you go — general manager Daryl Morey is has not shifted his plans from targeting LaMarcus Aldridge to getting the band back together.
And you know what?
That’s just fine with me!
Woj just reported moments ago that Aldridge will sign with the San Antonio Spurs:
It’s cool — Morey swung hard, got himself a strike but got himself a base hit by signing two of the guys that have made a difference in Beverley and Brewer.
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We still need a play maker as James Harden had eloquently addressed the issue to media in his exit interview at the end of the season.
But an important question remains, because Trevor Ariza just completed the first year of a four-year, $32 million deal, he is making roughly the same money as Brew.
Brew is a capable starter in this league but he comes off the bench because it works best with what the Rockets do.
We all know that Beverley has immense value but setting up plays is not one of his strong points, he’s a defensive specialist.
So this poses a reasonable question — would Morey ship him away for the tweaks that are needed for this roster?
If I channeled what Morey was thinking, I’d likely say no but you never know what he has up his sleeve.
He is the epitome of Mr. Reliability, starting every single game last season.
I recall the March 21st game against the Phoenix Suns where he was battling an illness and was listed as questionable to play.
He not only showed up for work after missing shoot around, he scored 15 points with 12 rebounds while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three in 37 minutes of action.
The Rockets fell to the Suns 117-102 but Ariza’s effort was relentless!
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But despite all of what I just said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Morey wasn’t entertaining the idea right at this moment.
Hell, he definitely was when the Rockets were in the pursuit of Aldridge but now that’s been put to bed, it poses an interesting question.
Stay tuned, the script of an NBA off season has a plethora of twists/turns and the Rockets could be right in the middle of all of that.
Ariza, 30, averaged 12.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.5 APG while shooting 40.2 percent from the field, 35 percent from behind-the-arc and 85.3 percent from the charity stripe.
We’ll see.
Go Rockets!