NBA Rumors: Houston Rockets Linked to Philadelphia 76ers

NBA Rumors: Houston Rockets Linked to Philadelphia 76ers

The arrival of Mike D’Antoni may be just the first former Philadelphia 76ers to land on the Houston Rockets in the 2016-2017 season.

The hiring of Mike D’Antoni as the new Houston Rockets head coach comes with the knowledge that he will be seeking the impletmentation of his offensive scheme upon the lineup of the Houston Rockets.   To the current players, it’s adapt or perish.

The Houston Rockets already have a strained relationship with starting center Dwight Howard, so strained that many Houston Rockets’ analysts had already predicted he will not be back with the team after his name was floated around at the trade deadline. Some have even begun to question whether he truly makes enough of an impact even when healthy to persuade to stay.  Some say the chemistry between player and team simply no longer exists.

A situation like that will place any front office on alert.  If it plays out along its natural course,  the team will lose the play of center Dwight Howard from the starting lineup, and that places the Houston Rockets in the market for a young talented center.  That just so happens to be the specialty of the Philadelphia 76ers.

There are three pieces to the rumors surrounding the Houston Rockets.  Let me try to elaborate on the three elements.

Next: Dwight Howard

I – Dwight Howard 

NBA rumors and speculations are surrounding the Houston Rockets on all sides regarding their off-season plan for their star center Dwight Howard .  Will he stay with the team and play under new head coach Mike D’Antoni or if will he opt out of his final year of his contract with the team.
But the bridge was already blazing before the team entered the off-season.  That’s simply due to the fact that the Houston Rockets dangled Dwight Howard’s name as trade bait at the 2016 NBA trade deadline.  Howard was never traded, but the damage was done.

The deadline for Dwight Howard’s commitment to return to the Houston Rockets is June 22, 2016.  While that would set the stage for the Rockets to target free agents, that would depend on the free agent market for center which is expected to be quite tight this season.

Next: Mike D'Antoni

II – Mike D’Antoni

With the hiring of Mike D’Antoni, the Houston Rockets may have placed more gasoline onto the chances of retaining Howard.  Mike D’Antoni and Dwight Howard worked together with the Los Angeles Lakers and were reportedly having a dispute when the team decided to focus around Steve Nash instead of Howard. Some suggest that the Rockets focused on hiring D’Antoni specifically to make Howard’s decision to stay in Houston all the more difficult. However, the Rockets management said that they will let their new coach decide whether if they will let Howard stay or not.

But D’Antoni is bringing HIS offense.   While Dwight Howard is the type of player who prefers back-down post-ups while D’Antoni runs a Sixers similar pace-and-space style. This means that in order to be fit for the Rockets, Howard should make a huge adjustment with how he plays.

That pretty much reads to me like a line in the sand.

Next: Nerlens Noel

III – Nerlens Noel

Coaches always lean towards their last team to raid for talent.  With a system designed to implement the D’Antoni offense, the center who could be available for the right price, has huge upside, is cap friendly, and is young, is Nerlens Noel.

We know from rumors earlier in the off-season from Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philly.com that the Sixers are shopping Noel and Okafor “to at least 15 teams”.  Based on those odds, it’s at least a better than 50% shot that the Houston Rockets are one such team.

Since Noel ran in the D’Antoni inspired offense in the 2015-2016 season, his would be the logical name to consider.

We know that Okafor is similar to Howard’s style, so the likely interest from the Rockets would be focussed on Noel.  But what could the Rockets offer in return?

Next: The Deal

IV – The Deal

D’Antoni not only know the Philadelphia 76ers players, but he knows Bryan Colangelo.  When dealing with a known, you have a distinct advantage.

For example, he knows that the Philadelphia 76ers are desperate for veteran help, particularly in the back court and at the wing position.  One such package might by the Rockets offering up frequently travelled small forward Michael Beasley packaged with point guard Andrew Goudelock and a 2016 second round pick at either 37 or 43.

While the move may not seem equitable at first, it does give a veteran presence at two positions desperately needing attention this off-season.   Beasley is a traveler, with plenty of talent but allowing volume shooting to be his calling card.   However, on the Sixers he could become a shooter to compliment that ball distribution of Ben Simmons.

Goudelock signed with the Houston Rockets on March 8, 2016.  He had some time with the Los Angeles Lakers before playing overseas in the Turkish league and then on the the Chinese basketball league.  He was averaging 22.1 points per game before signing on with the Rockets.

D’Antoni could quickly fill the void of Goudelock by signing anticipated free agent point guard Ish Smith to help implement his system into  the Rocket’s lineup.  What we know right now is that the Philadelphia 76ers are talking to NBA teams about interest in one of their young centers.  Based on the situation brewing in Houston, there should be plenty of interest in discussing the terms.

Next: John Calipari: Philadelphia 76ers Should Take Murray No. 1

Will it happen?  There are 15 teams in the discussions with the 76ers.   One could happen.  We simply want to cover all possible scenarios before it does.