NBA Trade Deadline: The trade each team must make

Space City Scoop (Houston Rockets)

Houston sends Terrence Jones to Oklahoma City for Reggie Jackson

In the ever competitive West losing a single game can catapult you down the ladder. Just ask the Rockets who were on a 4-game win streak, but a single loss in Detroit moved them from third to fifth. There is literally no room for error especially in the Southwest Division. So news Dwight Howard is projected to miss a month after re-injuring the right knee that held him out 11-games early this season is cause for concern.

While MVP candidate James Harden has carried the team on his back he’s suffering from his own myriad of injuries. Adding to this anxiety is how easily Golden State dispatched of the Rockets, sweeping the season series by an average of 17.75 points. The Warriors employed a strategy of aggressively defending Harden as a scorer, but more telling was how they shut him down as a play maker. It pinpointed the area of the game Houston is most vulnerable: starting point guard.

Patrick Beverley is a scrappy defender, but he’s more suited to a back-up role. Most of his shot attempts are wide open looks and yet his per game stats are modest: 11.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists with 1.4 turnovers in 31 minutes.

If teams replicate the Warriors defensive strategy to isolate Harden in Howard’s absence ask yourself who is the secondary scoring threat?

Upgrading the starting point guard would unshackle Harden and make Houston less predictable and more versatile.

Oklahoma City’s Reggie Jackson is a Restricted Free Agent who covets a starting role and rumor has is unhappy. Historically the Thunder avoids free agency, notably trading Jeff Green at the deadline and Harden just prior to the season. Speculation is the Thunder will repeat this practice with Jackson.

OKC needs a front court player who can score inside and grab rebounds. Terrence Jones could address those issues and work well with either a small ball line-up featuring Serge Ibaka at center or with Steven Adams versus larger opponents.

Jackson averages 13.4 points, 4.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 28.9 minutes. However, starting in Russell Westbrook’s absence his numbers were: 20.2 points, 7.8 assists and 5.2 rebounds.

Skeptics of losing Jones while Howard is out should recall Houston went 8-3 without either playing and have since added Josh Smith to the mix.

Jackson would immediately force teams to game plan for either Harden or him as a ball handler or scorer and simultaneously relieve pressure from Harden.

OKC need to make a move now just to make the playoffs and Houston need to sustain their position without sapping Harden.

Could GM’s Daryl Morey and Sam Presti revisit history via a team altering move? Completing this trade may well be what secures their playoff seeds and simultaneously addresses their long term roster needs.

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