Houston Rockets: Trade rumors can cause long term damage to team

The Houston Rockets have let it be known they’re going to be very active in trade talks to improve their team this off-season. Patrick Beverley and Lou Williams specifically have been mentioned and a possibility of Ryan Anderson as well should anyone be willing to take on his contract.

While the Houston Rockets are participating in what is just the nature of the business, the way the business is handled can scar the team and damage the intangible of team chemistry for the upcoming season. The Rockets didn’t improve from a 41 win team to a 55 win team strictly on off-season signings and adjustments on the offensive end, though that certainly helped.

But it also helped that one of the two feuding superstars took off for free agency and the team was no longer under a dark cloud of continuous controversy and who knows how many closed door locker room fights transpired in that 2015-2016 season. After the departure of Dwight Howard the team once again had defined roles that every member of the team was comfortable with.

Eric Gordon was fine coming off the bench. Clint Capela was not arguing to get the ball in the post more often, complaining about not getting enough touches or not having the offense run through him often enough. That’s a big deal for team cohesion that every player accepts their roles and knows what their purpose on the team is.

Since the rumors of Beverley being traded have come out, Beverley has been tweeting some ominous things about his future with the team, including responding to a fan about how great it would be if he could go to Chicago where he’s from. Those tweets were followed up by Lou Williams tweeting a bit in response to his name coming up on the trade block.

The way these things are handled needs to be very delicate. For if the Rockets don’t end up trading any of these players they have to find a way to reassure them that they are valued and the trades were only out of what they thought was best for the team. But it’s a hard sell to tell a player you like what they give to your team while also saying “We’d have preferred someone else over you though.”

More from House of Houston

The Houston Rockets can take a lesson from what seems to be the debacle of the Jimmy Butler trade and making sure to stay honest with a player about their future with the team. No one knows for sure what happened, but a tweet from Butler’s trainer, Travelle Gaines, makes it sound like the Bulls were less than forthcoming about Butler’s status on the trade block. Here’s the quote from Gaines’ tweet:

"0-82. Worst culture in the league. I met drug dealers with better morals then their GM. He is a liar and everyone knows"

All this is to say is that the Rockets need to be very careful about how they treat Beverley, Williams and Anderson. If a front office is not fully upright with a player, not only can those players themselves be upset, but you could lose the trust of the rest of the roster and cause some angst in the locker room from other players who still play for you.

Next: Cameron Oliver is the ultimate darkhorse

Daryl Morey has a very analytical approach to his position as general manager. But the mental aspect of a team cannot be discounted. We’ve seen how the Rockets have gone from a number two seed in the West, to an eight seed with basically the same team, then back to a three seed in three seasons. It’s not just about points in the paint, free throws and three pointers. The players have to want to play for you too. Here’s hoping Morey understands that and handles this situation appropriately.

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