Houston Rockets Report: Team Is Interested In Mario Chalmers And Jarrett Jack

The Houston Rockets are well past the midpoint of the season and the NBA trade deadline is definitely on the horizon.

Yes, Thursday, Feb. 23rd at 2 p.m. CST will be the red-letter date for many franchises as they’re some assets that are still worth moving.

As always, you know Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey will be at the ready to make a deal to attempt to make this team better.

The difference is that although the Houston Rockets have lost six of their 14 games, they still possess a 38-17 record, good for 3rd place in Western Conference.

One would think that there’s no reason to toy with what has been assembled ahead of the 2016-17 season.

But we’re missing a point-guard who can help take the pressure off of James Harden and Patrick Beverley as we are limited on viable options.

For many seasons, that used to be Jason Terry but he’s not here anymore.

But there is an elixir to the malady that we’re suffering in the back court.

According to Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com, the Rockets have expressed interest in not only Mario Chalmers but Jarrett Jack as well.

Both of these guys are veteran free agents sitting on the couch so the impact to the bottom line would be minimal but could make a HUGE impact to the WINNING LINE.

In fact, Chalmers’ eight years of experience would give him a salary of $1.4 million and for Jack it’d be $1.6 million based on his 11 years of service.

But keep in mind that those numbers will certainly be pro-rated because of them being previously waived and the timing of their signing at this point.

You’ve seen how things didn’t look quite right when Beverley went down with his wrist injury earlier in the season and Eric Gordon had to takeover at the point.

He did a terrific job but when he’s guy that has a had a history of injuries, you don’t want to wear him out in a starting role with demands it requires.

That’s where these guys could be valuable.

Although both have been underwhelming from the three-point line as of late, they both have a history of shooting around up to 40 percent and at a high-volume so the potential is there.

I’d really like Jack as a fit here because he still is the ultimate facilitator as he approaches his mid-30s.

If we ask any of these guys to come in, we won’t be asking much.

We just need them to handle the basketball well, take open shots, effectively run the pick-and-roll and help wherever else is needed.

The focus is to give the Beard and Bev a break.

I honestly think that either of those guys would be a viable option for that.

But let’s look into why they were waived.

Both had been struggling with debilitating injuries — Chalmers suffered a ruptured Achilles’ tendon and has not been on an NBA roster since last March, where he was with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Jack was waived from the Atlanta Hawks as he was suffering from torn ligaments in his right knee. He was cut in October before the start of the season.

Both may not be quite in shape at the moment so I’m not sure of how much desire the Rockets want to have these guys here in Houston.

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But these guys should be healthy now and I think we should grab one of these guys in the interim.

But if you ask me, I’d prefer Jack because of his innate ability to run the pick-and-roll off the bench in a pinch.

We’ll see how this shakes out so stay tuned.

Chalmers, 30, averaged 10.3 points, 3.8 assists while shooting 41 percent from the field, 30.9 percent from three and 83.2 percent from the charity stripe through 61 games in 2015-16.

Jack, 33, averaged 12.8 points, 7.4 assists, while shooting 39.1 percent from the field, 30.4 percent from behind-the-arc and 89.3 percent from the free throw line through 33 games in 2015-16 with the Brooklyn Nets, the last team he was mainstay on.

Go Rockets.

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