The Houston Rockets have big offseason plans in 2014 and a trade for Rajon Rondo or Kevin Love could be in the cards and Daryl Morey will be looking to trade Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin to clear out cap space and this comes as Carmelo Anthony is another potential free agent target that the team could go after.
The Rockets lost in the first round of the playoffs and now Morey wants to create a Big 3 of his own with Dwight Howard and James Harden and he sees a number of players filling that role potentially. According to ESPN.com and everyone in the NBA, the Rockets are targeting Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James as free agents if they cannot get a deal done for Rondo or Love and that means trading Asik and Lin anyway, because that is the only way the team has a chance to sign them and be somewhat under the cap.
The Rockets had a very good season, but they were upset by the Blazers in the playoffs and now they are looking to bounce back and adding someone like Anthony or James would be clutch and could turn the team into a champion. Anthony is going to get chased by the Chicago Bulls and Dallas Mavericks and there also is the chance he could sign a max deal and stay in NY. The Miami Heat obviously want to keep LeBron James and rumors have the team also thinking about going after Anthony, but that may end up being too much money to get under the cap.
The Celtics feel they are in the mix for the Kevin Love trade since they have so many draft picks and the team could be an option and that would likely mean Rondo stays. The Rockets want to add another major star next to Howard and Harden, as they know the west is a very tough conference and to beat the Spurs they will need more than they have now. The Knicks can offer Anthony the most years and most money, so he could end up being the player the team chases the most depending on how the opening days of free agency play out.
The team also has Chandler Parsons and his contract to deal with, as he could end up being a restricted free agent if the team doesn't pick up his deal. According to Yahoo Sports, the team will make him a restricted free agent so that they can go after one of the bigger names and Morey plans on trying to get Parsons in the fold after that. Morey loves Parsons because he was a second round pick and has turned into an All-Star caliber player and that doesn't happen too often with players in that round. Parsons is an interesting case, as he could get a deal that the Rockets can't match and that is a risk they clearly are willing to take. A sign and trade with him is also a potential option. The team did that with Jeremy Lin and the Knicks couldn't match, now the show could be on the other foot.
