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December 12, 2013While We’re Waiting… Whither Trevor Bauer, 2014 starter?
December 13, 2013TNT’s David Aldridge states that the Houston Rockets will not only trade center Omer Asik during this coming week, but that the Cleveland Cavaliers could be a potential landing spot.
ICYMI: Rockets will trade Asik next Wednesday or Thursday. And do not discount Cleveland/Varejao. Would be perfect fit next to Howard.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) December 13, 2013
Asik is disgruntled with his backup role in Houston, one that was created when the team landed Dwight Howard. He’s currently sidelined with what the team is calling a ‘bruised thigh.’ It is believed that the Rockets would prefer to deal Asik, who is due $5.2 million this season and a well-documented $14.9 million in 2014-15, to an Eastern Conference team. The Philadelphia 76ers have also been mentioned as a possible landing spot or as a third team, potentially moving forward Thaddeus Young.
Playing in all 82 games for the Rockets last season, the 27-year-old Asik averaged 10.1 points (54.1 percent), 11.7 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game.
Varejao, a nine-year veteran and local fan favorite, is currently averaging 8.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. Due $9 million in this season and next, he has been moved to a bench role with the inclusion of center Andrew Bynum in the starting five. It was believed that the Rockets would also like a fist-round draft selection in return for any deal that involves Asik.
[Related: Cavaliers reach the quarter season mark with more questions than answers]
37 Comments
Umm…..no thanks?
why cant we just just trade for thaddeus young? oh that would make more sense, so we wont do that,
No
If Asik’s disgruntled by his back-up role in HOU, what makes anyone think he’d be happy as Bynum’s backup here? Certainly doesn’t seem like its worth the Cavs trading a “team leader” to find out. I’d be shocked if there’s any truth to this one…
Agree with Scott, how does Cleveland make sense?
Guys, you aren’t looking at this the right way: This would be good for a Big Market(TM) franchise!
This has to be a three team deal if it ever gets done. No way Asik plays in CLE.
I don’t dislike Asik, but I do hate that contract.
I think only $8.3m of the $14.9m would count against the cap next year.
Andy and a first rounder for Asik is beyond stupid. Unless Bynum is on the way out and Gilbert cherishes the idea of even more empty seats at the Q. After the disaster that is Bennett, maybe Grant is just going to try and go out like a bang and destroy the franchise. Kyrie Irving for Mario Chalmers anyone?
Don’t see how that improves the team at all. You’re essentially trading away a longtime fan favorite for a more expensive, more disgruntled, and less energetic alternative. No thanks.
Inside Aldridge’s head: Let’s see….need a story for today, the Heat struggle against teams with big men, the Rockets have Dwight Howard, Howard needs another big man next to him to beat the Heat, Dan Gilbert hates the Heat….. I GOT IT!
Howard has played 776 minutes this season to Bynum’s 326. Bynum is also no guarantee to be around this franchise for the long term. And obviously Varejao, who while may not be the official starter, still plays more minutes a night than Bynum, and that’s the role Asik would replace.
And while Varejao may be a team leader, his game has noticeably declined. Asik is four years younger, and a much better candidate to offer an extension to.
Big men in the NBA cost big bucks. If you don’t draft a legit 5, you’re going to have to pay out the wazoo to put one on the court.
well, if only 8.3 counts against the cap, it’s a pretty reasonable price. I didn’t realize that before Jeff’s comment.
I agree that Andy and a first is stupid. But for a different reason: The Rockets WANT to move Asik.
The team taking him on is doing Houston a favor. There’s no need to overpay.
God, I hope you’re right.
Even if all 14.9 counts, I see it as a necessary evil. We’re going to be spending that kind of money to put anyone decent out there at the 5 fairly soon no matter what. Either extending Bynum, or using our cap space for someone who will replace him.
As long as our pick is in the lottery, I’m strongly against any deal that gives it away. If we find ourselves in a position where we’re confident that we can make the playoffs, I’d swap picks to make this deal happen.
kudos for not headlining this as a “rumor,” which WFNY sometimes does when it’s just a writer’s musings.
In all the years Varajao has been here haven’t seen any evidence that he’s a team leader.
Varejao to HOU, Asik to PHI, Young to CLE. I like it!
http://www.spotrac.com/nba/houston-rockets/omer-asik/
Aldridge does not usually post junk rumors. If he is reporting it, there are at least discussions. So long as it is the King’s or Heat’s pick, and Asik is okay coming to Cleveland, I’m fine with the trade.
That would leave us very close to having room for another max contract if we pass on the options for Bynum, Clark and Gee.
Yes it would. We could even package Dion and Bennett together and maybe a few number #1s and get another solid $10m player to go with a max player. Very important next 6 or 7 months for this team.
What?! I know this is just speculation, but can’t it at least make some sense? Varejao was more productive per 36 minutes both last year and this year. Asik may have a slight edge on defense, but not by much, and only under the basket. Their contracts are the same length, so we wouldn’t be getting any long term return for Varejao, AND Asik has a ridiculous $15 million salary next season. Why in the world would we swap the two to get no better and spend more money? If anybody is giving up a draft pick in that exchange, it had better be them!
Plus, while Asik would get more minutes here, but he’d STILL BE A BACKUP! He’d get more minutes here, but not as many as Varejao, since he can’t really play PF. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?
Bynum’s minutes have been increasing as the season goes along, and while he’ll probably never play the kind of minutes Howard does, I don’t know that Asik would average the kind of minutes Varejao has thus far. He’s probably not able to play PF sometimes the way Varejao does either which, unless Clark is going to play there or maybe Zeller, leaves us weirdly undermanned at that position in Varejao’s absence in addition to cutting further into his available minutes.
And, while Varejao’s game may have declined from last year, I think you’re overstating slightly, and I’m not convinced its age related anyway. (some rust is expected coming back from that injury) His scoring and rebounding per 36 minutes are nearly identical to his age 28 year, and his PER is higher.
Speaking of PER, Varejao posted a 21.7 last season, and a 17.3 so far this year, while Asik matches up with 14.9 and 10.6, respectively. Asik is younger and might still improve, but the old man is better and on a much friendlier contract. I don’t see the upside.
I agree. I wouldn’t want to turn down a potential starting 27 year old, 7 foot center because we have Bynum, especially when Bynum’s knees could go anytime.
Right, like all speculation about trades with Cleveland, the mention how good one of our players could be with another team, but never any mention of the fit here.
Varejao and Bynum’s MPG total 48 exactly, and 82games has 94% of Varejao’s minutes as a 5, so it seems like an easy transition for Asik to take Varejao’s role.
Varejao is definitely the better player now as long as he can stay healthy. That’s a huge if. And I’m not sure he’s going to be the better player going into the 2015-16 season, which is going to be past the point where we’ll have cap space to sign a big man. The options are re-sign a really old Varejao, hope Zeller improves a lot, or hope that you can get a decent 5 in the draft. I’ll take Asik over all of those options easily.
That’s solely because the Rockets are looking to build a roster that can win a championship, and the Cavs are looking to build a roster that can contend in a few years. We’re still in the gathering pieces stage, they’re in the fit the pieces together perfectly stage. How Varejao fits in Houston is much more newsworthy than how Asik fits in Cleveland.
I agree that we have a need for a center looming, but we’d have to sign somebody either way. I’m not sure trading for Asik now makes him any cheaper in the 2015 offseason. Getting worse for at least this year and maybe next just for a hopeful inside line at signing Asik in 2015 seems like not a very good tradeoff to me. If we could predict Varejao’s health it would make the question easier, but alas such things aren’t possible.
Of course there’s the question of Bynum’s health as well, because he’s actually the youngest of the three, oddly enough. If he does stay healthy and we pick up his option for next year, then he will qualify for “early bird” rights, which would let us sign him for 175% of his previous salary for between 2 and 4 years regardless of our cap position in the 2015 offseason, when he’ll be 27.
You trade for Asik instead of sign him in 2015 because that lets you get a max, or very close to max, player this coming offseason, and then you can re-sign Asik the next. To sign Asik in 2015 would require you to not sign a big deal this coming offseason.
Also, while we can’t exactly predict Varejao’s health, we can’t just throw up our hands and go “who knows?”. We should be pretty confident that he can’t get through a season healthy at this point, sad as that is to say. Same with Bynum.
Here’s the formula for “breaking” and NBA trade rumor: Player X is known
to be on the block (Asik). Nat’l writer (D. Aldridge) looks for team Y that may have
or have had interest player X (Cavs rumored interested in Asik when
still in Chicago). Find player Z from team Y who may (or may not) be on the trading block (Varajao). X + Y + Z = NBA trade rumor…nevermind that the assumptions built in are mostly outdated/erroneous
And the trade machine accepts this trade too!!!
I have no doubt it’s being discussed because Asik is a good player, no matter how you slice it, but I think what woofersus said is dead on. That trade would make zero sense for the Cavs. Instead of Asik being stuck behind Dwight Howard, he’d now be stuck behind Andrew Bynum. The only way I could see it happening is if the Cavs already know that they’re not going to pick up Bynum’s contract for the second half of the season.