Houston Rockets: The undermining storyline of the James Ennis trade

The Houston Rockets have traded James Ennis to the Sixers for a future second-round pick. What’s the undermining storyline to this? Let’s examine this.

Houston Rockets fans — the James Ennis III-era of basketball is now over in Houston. In a surprising move by general manager Daryl Morey, he has been shipped to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Shams Charania of The Athletic was the first to report on the deal sending the small forward up to the City of the Brotherly Love to try his hand at helping the Sixers get a tad closer in contending for an NBA title.

Shams indicated that the Houston Rockets will receive swap rights on a 2021 second-rounder in exchange for Ennis.

There were certainly high hopes — including yours truly — for him to flourish with the Houston Rockets as like a Trevor Ariza-lite, a suitable replacement for his loss.

It actually turned out to be a bit less than desired. His defense wasn’t what we had expected — currently at a 110 rating — and it was a struggle for him to stay healthy, having already missed 14 games this season with various ailments.

I think ultimately one’s best ability is their availability and it likely led to the demise of Ennis being a staid presence on the Houston Rockets roster.

I have to admit that’s it’s a far cry from what I wrote back earlier in the season — take a look here — in regard to the potential impact of Ennis. It was a valiant try by Morey but the best replacement for Ariza is…well…Ariza.

But what’s the undermining storyline to this deal happening?

Although I had expected Ennis to be with this team through the end of the season, this certainly clears the way for Danuel House, who decided to decline the Rockets multi-year deal offer, for him to rejoin the team as there’s an opening at the starting small forward position.

House was reportedly offered a three-year, $4.16 million deal by the Houston Rockets which is

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close to on-par with the type of money late first-round picks are compensated for.

House declined the offer and wanted to be converted for the rest of the season to be a restricted free agent this summer.

It has been nearly a month since House has been sent back down to the G League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers which has given him some time to soul search. The bright lights, the glamour, the luxurious lifestyle of an NBA player as well as the financial security of a contract and a starting job on a contender may have weighted on his soul to back pedal his original notion.

Let’s hope so.

The 25-year-old forward had been averaging 9.0 points and 3.6 rebounds with a shooting line of .458/.390/.818 through 25 games — 12 starts — this season.

Even though P.J. Tucker and Kenneth Faried can fill the forward positions effectively, there still would be a void at center until Clint Capela returns and there’s no way Nene Hilario will be able to handle starter minutes as he is in the twilight stages of his professional career.

Adding House back in the fold will provide continuity as he’s familiar with a system that he had a ton of success with. He’s a high-flying, fierce defender that could effectively play both ends of the floor. It had truly been a pleasure for me to watch him through the season and I hope I get that opportunity once again.

Although the trade deadline has been able to wean a solid nugget like Iman Shumpert, it’ll be interesting to see how the Houston Rockets will fill the small forward slot after the deadline passes this afternoon.

I’m looking at my clock now…tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

Next. Three things that Kenneth Faried brings to the Rockets. dark

Ennis, 28, averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds with a shooting line of .493/.367/.724 through 40 games — 25 starts — in 2018-19.

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