Houston Rockets: Is It Time To Make A Play For Alexis Ajinca?

It’s that time of the year Houston Rockets fans, you know what I’m talking about, it’s one of Daryl Morey’s favorite times of the year.

Yep, you guessed it, the NBA’s oft-ballyhooed trade deadline.

As we know, for the most part, nothing interesting usually happens until right up until the deadline time.

But what’s the deadline for this season?

Thank you for asking!

For the 2016-17 season, the NBA trade deadline will be Thursday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. CST.

That’s a lot of time between now/then and I’m sure there will be some happenings going on.

Now keep in mind that it may be slightly muted this season because of the ridiculous amount of movement that occurred in free agency this past summer.

This was because of the NBA’s unwavering popularity and their escalating salary cap.

A lot of players signed long-term deals making them harder to move but there are some how are still on palatable contracts that were signed before the league received their huge windfall of cash.

Although not yet, there needs to be a player that should be connected with the Houston Rockets.

Who am I talking about?

I’m talking about Alexis Ajinca.

This is not a name that you’d expect to have been thrown out there but with recent developments, I think it’s quite possible for the Houston Rockets to land fledgling big man.

Ajinca is disgruntled because of his lack of playing time currently.

The New Orleans Pelicans have gone to “small ball” offense and he and his counterpart Omer Asik are now the odd men out.

Ajinca feels that he can still contribute at any given moment and expressed his sentiments to L’Equipe, a popular French sports Web site (Ajinca is of French descent).

Here’s what he told the publication about his situation:

"“It’s very frustrating because I want to play, bring something to the team,” Ajinca said (via translation). “I worked a lot and got back into shape early in the season. It was noted by the coaches and the general manager. And then it came overnight … At first, I was told it was [due to] matchups and then afterwards, I was a little forgotten. Afterwards, when I play, it’s for five minutes and it’s hard to do a lot of things.”"

He also added this tidbit:

"“I have to stay very professional because everyone talks in the league,” Ajinca said. “If a franchise inquires, they will ask how I behave when I do not play, etc. So we cannot have certain attitudes like being angry at the coach or others even if we are frustrated. … I try to stay myself and work. I’m arguing with my agent right now. We’ll see what happens.”"

With all that’s been said, it’s extremely likely that Ajinca will find a way out of the Big Easy before the trade deadline.

I honestly think that the Houston Rockets need to make a run for the 7’2,” 248-pound bruiser because he’d bolster our front line immensely.

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He won’t get starter minutes — and I don’t think he should — but will get quality time on the court that’s more considerable than what he got with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Ajinca is currently on the second-year of a four-year, $20 million deal that pays him an average of $5 million per season through the 2018-19 season.

That’s an extremely-friendly contract for the Rockets to handle and a trade could easily be facilitated.

Who would I trade for and acquire in exchange?

I’d trade Corey Brewer for Ajinca and they could throw in Dante Cunningham as well, making that deal even keel.

Brewer could immediately increase his playing time by being featured in a speedy Pelicans lineup and I think it would only beneficial to he and his future.

We’d get two solid defenders/rebounders and our desire to bolster our front line would be whetted with such a move.

And it’s also important to note that Cunningham is shooting a career-high 41.1 percent from beyond-the-arc this season, going at 30-for-73, understandably-less volume than the 174 that he attempted last year.

Next: Lower The Price Of Those Damn Tickets!

But not so fast…

It’s still quite plausible that Ajinca could work a buyout with the Pels; and, if so, he’ll be available on the market to snatch up quickly.

The Rockets could save money — they’re about $18 million under the luxury tax line — and could sign him for the rest of the season — with the opportunity to re-sign — for relatively cheap as he would’ve already gotten paid by the Pels.

This is definitely food for thought as the Rockets consider how to make this team better before going into their stretch run before the end of the season.

We’ll have to see.

Ajinca, 28, is averaging 4.5 points, 4.5 rebounds while shooting 46.5 percent from the field in 14.7 minutes of action per through 20 games (10 starts).

Cunningham, 29, is averaging 6.1 points, 3.0 rebounds while shooting 39.9 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from three through 26 games (18 starts).

Go Rockets.

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