The Houston Rockets have already finalized a three-team trade to acquire Corey Brewer from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Alexey Shved from the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, with the possibility of using some of the assets acquired to swing for another big trade by February 19 trade deadline.
After finishing runner-up to the Dallas Mavericks in the Rajon Rondo, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey finally came through with a big move by acquiring Brewer and Shved in a three-team trade to end the opening week of the NBA trade period with a bang.
"Houston will send guard Troy Daniels to Minnesota as part of the Brewer deal, sources said. The Rockets will also give Minnesota a 2015 second-round pick - via Sacramento - and a future second-round pick, along with cash."
"The 76ers also will send guard Alexy Shved to the Rockets, sources said. To make room on the roster to complete the trade, the Rockets waived forward Francisco Garcia. Minnesota will send forward Ronny Turiaf and a second-round pick to the Philadelphiia 76ers, sources said."
According to Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports, the Rockets have exhausted the $8.4 million trade exception they acquired by trading Jeremy Lin to the Los Angeles Lakers last offseason. Acquiring both both Brewer ($4.7M) and Shved ($3.3M) Friday would give the Rockets the chance to flip these contracts for another trade by February 19 trade deadline.
"To acquire Brewer, the Rockets used their trade exception from the Jeremy Lin trade to the Los Angeles Lakers. They wanted to complete the deal on Friday because it leaves them 60 days until the Feb. 19 trade deadline when Brewer would be eligible to be traded again."
David Weiner of ClutchFans.net speculated that the Rockets really wanted to acquire Shved's $3.3M expiring contract along with Brewer in order to gain flexibility in pulling off another big day two months from now.
"That said, they purposely took on Shved's $3.3M contract in order to flip it at the deadline for more salary. Les is willing to pay the tax," Weiner posted on Twitter account.
According to league sources, the Rockets are expected to pursue another trade by trade deadline, and many insiders believe their next transaction will be for Phoenix Suns playmaker Goran Dragic.
Dragic, who once played for the Rockets, is coming off a breakout season and is putting solid numbers (16.2 points, 4.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game) despite playing in a three-man point guard rotations with Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas.
Trading for Dragic would provide the Rockets with a better scorer and playmaker than incumbent starting guard Patrick Beverley, whose defensive acumen is overshadowed by his inability to run the team's offense.
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