reflections
June 6th, 2008 Morey Looking to Deal

From The Houston Chronicle:

That one player isn’t going to fall to the Rockets when they pick 25th in the upcoming draft. Morey is confident, though, that the Rockets can land a rotation player in that spot. It just might not be next season’s rotation.

Don’t look for much help from the free-agent market, because re-signing Carl Landry won’t leave them much below the luxury tax level.

“We’re probably going to have to upgrade through trade,” Morey said, “as opposed to free agency.”

The Celtics got well in a hurry when Danny Ainge swung a seven-for-one deal to pry Kevin Garnett from Minnesota and packaged the No. 5 overall pick to Seattle for Ray Allen.

Just like that, the Celtics had two All-Stars to complement long-suffering Paul Pierce.

The Lakers, for their part, became instant contenders shortly before the trade deadline when the Memphis Grizzlies gave the gift of Pau Gasol.

Bryant can’t win a championship alone, but Gasol and Lamar Odom give him plenty of playmaking company.

“We’re really focused on being able to upgrade for next year’s playoffs,” Morey said. “Don’t judge the team on Oct. 1. We think we’ve got a lot of assets that a lot of teams want — a lot of ways to upgrade. Often the best opportunities to use those come at trade deadlines.”

It will be interesting to see what kind of players Morey and the gang will covet. Clearly, Houston needs an upgrade at the power forward position, as well as a stronger and more reliable bench.

An intriguing trade asset that they will have to dangle is Bobby Jackson’s approximate $6.1 million expiring contract, which could be packaged with young role players (such as Luther Head, Aaron Brooks, Chuck Hayes, etc.) and/or draft picks to appease opposing teams.

Outside of that, however, it’s tough to imagine many teams banging on the door for Houston’s spare parts. Morey may have to make a bold move in order to bring something of helpful value. Keep your eyes peeled.

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Posted By: Dustin Chapman

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