The Houston Rockets may target a Rajon Rondo trade this season and the team also could look at Goran Dragic or Ricky Rubio to make a Big 3 with Dwight Howard and James Harden and this comes after the Kings traded Jason Terry to the Rockets for two second round picks, Alonzo Gee, Scotty Hopson and a trade exemption and this comes after the team missed out on major free agents this summer.
According to ESPN.com reporter Marc Stein, the Rockets could be looking at Rajon Rondo this season, as GM Daryl Morey has long been coveting him and now that he is close to the free agent market, the team could pull off a trade. Rondo is going to be the top trade target moving forward this season now that Kevin Love has been traded and Goran Dragic also could come up in rumors since he has an option for next season. The Suns are dealing with the Eric Bledsoe situation and he could get moved down the line depending on how things play out.
The Rockets went hard at Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh while allowing Chandler Parsons to leave and now they have a bit of a void on offense. The team has Harden and he is a great scorer and shooter, but he needs more support and at point guard the team is lacking. Patrick Beverley is solid, but he is injury prone and now that Jeremy Lin is gone, the team needs a legit starter again. Rondo could be an option, but the way the Celtics are handling the situation means the Rockets likely would have to give up a huge package and they may not want to do that.
There were reports earlier in the summer that the Kings and the Celtics were talking about a deal for Rondo, but both sides came out and denied anything was going on. The Celtics said they are not actively looking to trade Rondo and Pro Basketball Talk reported that the two sides plan on starting the season together. Rondo is coming off of ACL surgery and while he looked good in 30 games last season, the Celtics want to see if Rondo can stay healthy for a full year after coming back from the injury before signing him to an extension.
Rondo also wants to see how is health is and also how far along the Celtics are in the rebuilding process. Rondo can make more money on the free agent market and if he wants to hit that, it could be harder for the Celtics to make a trade since he may not sign an extension with another team. Rondo is coming in after a $55 million extension he signed back in 2009 and now he is in the final year of that deal and averaged 11 points and nearly 10 assists in 30 games last season.
The Rockets already pulled off a trade for a point guard, finally making the deal with Jason Terry that was reported on weeks ago. Terry did not play for the Kings after being moved and now he is with the Rockets and gives them some depth, while Alonzo Gee and Scotty Hopson were moved in the deal. The Rockets made the playoffs but were upset by the Blazers and now they are coming back looking to make a run, but they are not as deep as they were last season.
