The Houston Rockets are prepared to make a championship run next season after signing Dwight Howard and after swaying him to come to Texas after spending last year in Los Angeles, but that has made center Omer Asik unhappy and could that mean a trade out of town to another franchise?
According to Yahoo Sports, the Timberwolves and Pekvic are hung up on a contract extension right now and if the team can't come to an agreement, there is a chance he could be dealt. Since Asik has $20 million on his deal and was unhappy about the Howard signing, the move could be good on both sides as Pekovic and Asik have developed into two of the best centers in the league. General manager Daryl Morey has continued to add talent to the roster, signing Omri Casspi to a deal and he could make more moves, including trading away Asik if things don't turn around.
Morey signed the forward from the Cleveland Cavaliers to a multi-year deal and he will provide depth on the bench as the team tries to make a title run with Howard, Jeremy Lin, James Harden and Chandler Parsons as the main core. Casspi is from Israel and was the first player selected in the first round from that country and he has played over 250 games in his career with the Sacramento Kings and the Cavaliers.
Casspi averaged 7.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists over 256 games and he has been an on and off starter during his time in the NBA. Asik said that he was unhappy with the team signing Howard and Bleacher Reports writes that he could be dealt if the right proposal came along and some teams that can do it are the Chicago Bulls, Pelicans, Spurs, Miami Heat and the Wizards, as they have expiring deals they can trade.
The Kings selected Casspi with the 23rd pick in the first round of the 2009 draft and he was later traded to Cleveland in June of 2011 after averaging 12.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 30.6 minutes per game as a rookie with Sacramento. During the 2009 season he averaged 10.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists with 31 starts in 77 games with the Kings and he now will give the Rockets a solid player off the bench that can rebound and play defense.
Casspi joins a team that also had a foreign player in Omer Asik, although if it were up to the center they would likely not be teammates anymore, as Asik reportedly asked for a trade soon after the Howard deal was announced. Asik has been reported as feeling that he should be able to start after averaging a double-double last season and that it could be hard to co-exist with Howard on the same team while dealing with playing at the same time.
Morey and coach Kevin McHale have said that they plan on trying to work things out with Asik and that they want him to stay with the team. Asik averaged over 11 points and 10 rebounds per game last season and developed into one of the best centers in the game, giving to the Rockets two of the best on the roster now. One thing that could slow up any idea of a deal is the fact that Asik is under team control for two more years and is owed $20 million, so trading him could be difficult. Morey has been able to pull off tough moves in the past, including with Harden and Howard and he possibly could do that again with Asik.
