The run for landing LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony continues…
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The Houston Rockets have agreed to trade Omer Asik to the New Orleans Pelicans for their 2015 first-round draft pick in a move to free up cap space for this summer’s main attractions, Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony. They also included $1.5M in cash as part of the deal for the deal.
Asik was scheduled to earn $15M in his final year of a 3 year contract and holding onto that contract would not allow the Rockets to actively pursue Anthony and/or James who are both unrestricted free agents at the moment. The Rockets have been on Anthony’s short list for some time now and this move along with trading Lin, which should occur soon, will free up enough cap space to make the 7-time NBA All-Star happy with a payday in Houston.
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Playing alongside Dwight Howard and James Harden would make the Rockets instant contenders. The Pelicans are not getting screwed in the deal by any means, giving them a very impressive defensive minded inside presence adding Asik to young star Anthony Davis. New Orleans had been looking for a center to accompany Davis in the post, and Asik requested a trade last summer – so the stars finally aligned for both organizations to get what they wanted.
The Rockets will trade Omer Asik to the Pelicans for a draft pick. @sam_amick explains a surprisingly complex deal: http://t.co/f7l1VFigWl
— USA TODAY Sports NBA (@usatodaynba) June 26, 2014
The Pelicans will absorb Asik to help clear salary cap space as they chase big-ticket free agents Carmelo Anthony & LeBron James.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) June 26, 2014
The trade cannot be finalized until Thursday’s draft because of league rules but this is a win for both sides. More so for the Rockets of course because they are able to free up necessary cap space and they will get the pick back if it is number 4 through 19 due to the protections included.