The Houston Rockets missed out on Carmelo Anthony, but now Daryl Morey may look at trades and a trade for Goran Dragic could be an option if a Rajon Rondo deal fails with the Boston Celtics, while the Rockets may also re-engage on the Kevin Love trade talks as the summer moves on and this comes as the Indiana Pacers are interested in Dragic.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Indiana Pacers and Houston Rockets are interested in a Dragic deal, as the Phoenix Suns have a glut of back court players in Dragic, Isaiah Thomas, Archie Goodwin and likely Eric Bledsoe once he re-signs, making Dragic expendable. The report says that the Suns will not look at giving up Dragic for anything small, meaning a first round pick would likely have to get moved for a deal to go down. Marc Stein from ESPN writes that the Pacers "dream" of a Dragic deal, while the Rockets could look at a trade after Jeremy Lin was moved to help support Patrick Beverley.
Dragic is coming off of a career season that saw him score 20 points and average six assists per game and he won most improved player of the year. He helped the Suns win 48 games and nearly make the playoffs and now he could get traded for the right price. Dragic is getting paid $7.5 million and the Suns have cap space so there is no immediate need to move him, but the team could look at trading him now that Thomas has signed. The team also drafted Tyler Ennis in the first round and that is another point guard in the stable.
ESPN is reporting that Eric Bledsoe and the Suns are far apart in contract negotiations and that could be one reason why the team is waiting on Dragic. The team has leverage over Bledsoe and right now they have offered him a four year deal and he wants a five year max contract. The team is in position to play hard with Ennis and Thomas there along with Dragic and this comes after the RFA Bledsoe had 17.7 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game last season. The Bucks, Rockets and Kings have all been mentioned as potential destinations for Bledsoe.
Many have called the Rockets one of the losers in free agency because of the way they struck out on their targets and also allowed Chandler Parsons to leave, but that only looks at players and not the entire team situation. Morey, according to ESPN.com, called the Parsons contract one of the hardest to trade in NBA history and that is one reason why the team did not match the deal. Morey may have lost some talent (and it could be even with Ariza, but we'll see) but he feels that the team is in better position moving forward now without Parsons than with him.
The Suns were one of the most surprising teams in the NBA last season and now they have the chance to get a deal done to make the team even better. Whether they keep Dragic or not, the team should be one to watch next season.
