Houston Rockets: Team should pursue DeAndre Jordan if bought out

The Houston Rockets need to pursue center DeAndre Jordan, who is reportedly a buyout candidate after being traded to the New York Knicks. Why? Let’s look.

The Houston Rockets are barreling toward the ballyhooed NBA trade deadline set for next Thursday, Feb. 7. What will happen? Will Daryl Morey make a move before it’s all said and done? It’ll be interesting to see how things play out along the way as we know he’s one of the better analytical minds among NBA executives pulling the strings.

As you probably know, Marquese Chriss has made demands — via his agent Aaron Goodwin — that he’d like to be traded so keep your eye out on what’s done with him before the deadline. I’m positive Morey has been trying to trade him for quite some time but he hasn’t found a deal that he’s liked.

But forgot about the trades — how about the buyout market this time around? Last season, the Houston Rockets were able acquire veteran guard Joe Johnson and forward Brandan Wright but the pot from this buyout market concoction is a bit sweeter, especially with some moves being made.

The Houston Rockets have dipped their hands into that bowl of pudding earlier this season with the acquisition of Austin Rivers and Kenneth Faried respectively. Those guys have helped the Houston Rockets a ton but I don’t think they go far enough.

According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, it’s expected that DeAndre Jordan will be a free agent if he and the New York Knicks agree on the buyout of the remainder of his one-year, $22.9 million deal he signed with the Dallas Mavericks this off season.

It’s imperative that the Houston Rockets pursue Jordan as he’ll add badly-needed depth to a front line that can use some bolstering. Plus, he can be signed for the veteran’s minimum, which would be for about $2.4 million.

Yes, there will be some luxury tax paid on that salary but I think Jordan will be worth it an infinite amount of times over.

Harden has been averaging nine rebounds per game since Clint Capela went on the shelf back Jan. 13. That’s 2.3 more rebounds per game than his seasonal average of 6.7.

I think that adding Jordan will take some additional load off of Harden and will bolster this lineup even more when Capela returns back to the lineup, which would be hopefully within the next few weeks.

Since Capela will get his starting job back as soon as he returns, Jordan may not want to be in a situation where there’s a strong possibility that he wouldn’t be among the first five on a regular basis. But if one has P.J. Tucker come off the bench and Capela and Jordan are in as a tandem, I’d be highly-intrigued to see how that would work.

Remember the days when Chris Paul would run the pick-and-roll like crazy with Jordan when they

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were members of the Los Angeles Clippers? Well, I’d like to see a reboot of that again, along with a few thunderous dunks like of yesteryear.

Tucker, Faried and Jordan would complete a impenetrable front line headed up by Capela and then all of sudden we’d be having talks about how the Houston Rockets could strike fear into the Golden State Warriors once again, if not already.

Yes, I’m wiping the drool of the possibility of having his 104 defensive rating per 100 possessions, his 23.7 rebounding percentage and .672 true shooting percentage. That said TS% is good for tops in the Association and that’s something to be proud of.

Although his defensive win shares are at a 2.7 this season — because the Mavs weren’t necessarily a great mix of talent — he typically has been among the tops in the league in that category. Especially within his prime, he led the league in that category (5.4 in 2014-15) so I honestly feel that the potential is there.

What’s there not to like?

For those concerned about his free throws, he currently is shooting 68.2 percent from the line, averaging 2.7 makes and 4.0 attempts which earns him the highest clip from the charity stripe in his career.

As I’ve said previously, I implore the Houston Rockets to aggressively pursue the services of Jordan and let the reunion between he and CP3 begin.

We’ll all be grateful for it so let’s hope for the best. It’s time to come home D.J.

Next. Rockets: Three front court players to target before deadline. dark

Jordan, 30, has been averaging 11.0 points, 13.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and has been shooting 64.4 percent from the field through all 50 of starts this season.

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