Houston Rockets: What the team gains in the Iman Shumpert trade

The Houston Rockets have traded for Iman Shumpert along with with some auxiliary pieces to help out the team. What to make of the deal? Let’s take a look.

The Houston Rockets were able to generate some fireworks by generating a deal of their own Wednesday night ahead of today’s NBA trade deadline at 2 p.m. CST. When you think Daryl Morey is down-and-out with whatever challenge he has on his plate, he still figures out to wiggle his way through nearly insurmountable odds.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a bomb for the Houston Rockets last night, indicating that the team unloaded Brandon Knight, Marquese Chriss as well as their 2019 first-round, lottery-protected pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-team trade that featured Iman Shumpert as the largest return from the Sacramento Kings.

The Houston Rockets received guards Nik Stauskas as well as Wade Baldwin from the Cavs and Alec Burks — who was rumored to be targeted by the Houston Rockets over the past few days — was shipped to the Kings.

So what did the Houston Rockets gain in this deal? Other than losing their first-round pick this season, they will ~~gain a glut of guards~~ with Shumpert being the headliner.

I suppose this is a nice clean-up into what turned out to be a mess from the trade this off season that sent Ryan Anderson and De’Anthony Melton to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Knight and Chriss.

I’m positive Melton would’ve been getting quality minutes and Ryno’s three-point marksmanship would’ve been useful in those stretches where it would hard for anybody outside of James Harden to generate any offense. Knight and Chriss were largely unusable because of each them not necessarily been the best of fits of what this team does well.

It has been a struggle for Knight to stay healthy and Chriss had been relegated to being deep on the bench as it seemed that Mike D’Antoni had enough of him. Chriss had previously been rumored to request a trade out of Houston because of lack of playing time.

But all-in-all, this is the reality that we’re dealing with and Shumpert,

Stauskas and Baldwin are what this team has on hand now.

UPDATE: Woj has reported that Stauskas and Baldwin have been traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for a second-round pick. Both will be waived once the deal is final.

All of their contracts are expiring after this season with each making $11M, ~~$1.6M and $1.5M~~ respectively for 2018-19. The pro-rated portion that the Houston Rockets would owe would be $5.5M, ~~$800K and $750K~~ respectively.

Morey basically shed away $24.1 million in guaranteed salary in exchange for $5.5 million he’ll

the rest of 2018-19 to which I’d say that’s a hell of a salary dump, at least for now. Knight will likely

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get bought out by the Cavs eventually but at least Morey doesn’t have to worry about his contract anymore.

So what’s to say about Shumpert? He’s still can be a valuable asset to this team, especially with his ability to hit the three. He’s currently shooting 36.6 percent from three and 13.9 percent of those attempts come from the corner, where he’s nailing them at 42.9 percent this season.

His hallmark is not his defensive prowess but he has posted a 112 rating per 100 possessions this season which is respectable, at least for him. I just hope it’s not to a point to where he’s a liability.

Nonetheless, I think he could be valuable asset off the bench for either Chris Paul or Harden and still can categorized as a high-energy type guy to do as such. He’s quite adept at scoring off the pick-and-roll so that alone will help him flourish in this system that’s heavily predicated on this strategy.

On a lighter note, it’s also important to mention that his infamous wife, Teyana Taylor, will be a terrific addition prancing the sidelines at Toyota Center. I honestly think the that’s the real sweetener! Lawd have mercy!

This team has been rumored to have had an affinity for Shumpert for quite some time so let’s hope the ending is better than what came of the Carmelo Anthony-era.

We’ll have to see.

Next. Three front court players to target before trade deadline. dark

Shumpert, 28, averaged 8.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists with a shooting line of .382/.366/.829 through 42 games — 40 starts — in 2018-19.

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