It was a night for reflection following the trade of Carmelo Anthony, the Houston Rockets were on the outside looking in on that deal, and now appear to be on the outside for their other trades as well. ESPN’s Chris Broussard tweeted that while the Rockets want Nene Hilario bad, the Nuggets aren’t likely to move him before the trade deadline. Meanwhile, SI’s Chris Mannix reported that the Rockets are pushing hard for a deal, but aren’t close with anyone.
At the local level, the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen threw water on the Shane Battier to Boston rumors, saying that there doesn’t appear to be anything in Boston that makes sense for the Rockets and is actually available. Feigen also injected a little optimism for the next few days with this quote:
Morey is still hoping to make the big, roster changing move he has known the Rockets needed since summer, and will keep chasing that at any position, rather than to just fill the need in the middle.
Nothing was close on Monday. But if things had been stalled by the wait for Anthony deal to be complete, that roadblock is out of the way now. Morey has sounded unsure what will happen by Thursday, but it still seems likely that the team that practiced Monday at The Palace will not practice together again at Toyota Center on Friday.
Just because there’s nothing imminent now does not mean that the Rockets won’t make any moves. Last year at the deadline, the Rockets were able to get Kevin Martin at nearly the last minute, and would also have dealt for Amare Stoudemire had they been able to clear him medically in the last few moments. Now is not the time to get discouraged if you’re a fan waiting for a move. Give Morey his last few days to work his magic.