The Houston Rockets could be one of the surprise teams to make a move at the NBA trading deadline and Rajon Rondo is their top target and with names like Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik on the roster, a deal could go down with the Boston Celtics at the NBA trading deadline in February and that is just a few weeks away now and Danny Ainge has the chance to make some major moves.
The Rockets have the chance to make a deep playoffs run this season and after getting two all-stars in James Harden and Dwight Howard, Daryl Morey could make some deals down the line to get the team ready for a championship. According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Celtics have been getting calls about Rondo throughout the month and as the trading deadline gets closer a deal could come together after the Celtics and Rockets previously talked about Omer Asik.
The Celtics are in a tough situation in general and a tough situation with Rondo, as he is a top 10 player and the team is rebuilding and Ainge must decide what the best course of action is heading into the future. Rondo said to reporters that he would like to stay in Boston for a decade and that could happen if Ainge decides keeping him is more important than getting more draft picks. Both Asik and Lin have their contracts up after next season and that could set the Celtics up to clear some cap space and with all their draft picks that could be a way to build for the future.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Rockets and Celtics had a chance to make a deal in December before Boston pulled back and that was for Asik and now another deal could come into play. The Rockets have said that they may keep Asik for the duration of his contract, but that may be out of frustration of not getting a deal done and a way to draw other teams into the fold. Asik has been marginalized with the Rockets this season after Dwight Howard was signed and his numbers have taken a huge hit, going down from 10 points and 11 rebounds per game to just half that and that could spark a deal.
Anything going down is a far way off and the Celtics have other players to trade in Jeff Green Brandon Bass, Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries and it will be interesting to see what Morey and Ainge do at the deadline this season. The Celtics have faded back in the east after getting off to a good start and they already pulled off a move with Jordan Crawford and they could continue to clear out space as the deadline gets closer and whether or not Rondo gets traded will have a huge effect on what Ainge does this season and beyond.