As the Rockets look to pull a half-game closer to the Spurs in the Southwest standings tonight, let’s round up a few of the latest notes out of the division….
- Speaking to reporters today, including Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Omer Asik indicated that he has just been “frustrated” about his role recently, but is looking forward to returning to the court and helping the Rockets win.
- It’s only a matter of time until the Rockets find a taker for Asik, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who says a deal will likely happen after December 15th. Lowe also addresses a pair of hypothetical deals for Asik, involving the Pelicans and Hawks. In Lowe’s view, a trade centered around Asik and Paul Millsap would work so well for Houston that, if it were to happen, rival Western teams would hold it against Hawks GM Danny Ferry “forever.”
- Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld discusses a pair of Southwest teams in today’s NBA AM column, examining Mavericks offseason addition Gal Mekel and the Rockets‘ situation with Asik. According to Kyler, Houston is believed to be seeking either an impact frontcourt player or a combination of a frontcourt player and unprotected draft picks for Asik.
- In a recent piece for the Los Angeles Times, Paresh Dave outlined the details of the deferred payments on Zach Randolph‘s last two contracts. While it doesn’t affect a team’s cap, up to 25% of a player’s salary can be deferred. In the case of Randolph’s current deal with the Grizzlies, $9.9MM of his $66MM (15%) is deferred compensation.
Why would Ferry care about what Western Conference rivals think if he shipped Millsap to HOU, he keeps him out of his conference. As a GM you should never let other people opinons even begin to impact you.
I don’t think Lowe was necessarily suggesting that Ferry WOULD care — just that it wouldn’t make him popular. If there was a deal made the Hawks better, I’m sure he’d do it.
— Luke