NBA Rumors: Rockets have no plans to trade Omer Asik

The Houston Rockets did everything they could to trade Omer Asik earlier in the season, but fell short.

Part of that was due to their elevated demands and part of that was likely due to a lack of interest in Asik due to his unique contract.

When the Rockets signed Asik away from the Chicago Bulls in the 2012 offseason, they structured his contract so it would pay him $15 million (in total) come the final two years of his deal. His contract only counts for $8.3 million dollars towards the NBA salary cap but he’s due over $15 million in total – in effect, a ‘poison pill’ contract.

Understandably, teams balked at having to pay Asik such an elevated number and now the Houston Rockets and general manager Daryl Morey says he expects Asik to remain with the team through the remainder of his contract.

"“We pushed to trade Omer in December,” said Morey. “We felt we had to make a fair and aggressive effort to do that. Obviously, he’d prefer to be a starter.“At this point, Omer is very likely going to be here until the end of his contract at the end of next season, not this season. The window to trade him was [in December], and teams weren’t aggressive enough to get him, so we’re excited about him being a part of our future.”“We pushed to trade Omer in December,” said Morey. “We felt we had to make a fair and aggressive effort to do that. Obviously, he’d prefer to be a starter.“At this point, Omer is very likely going to be here until the end of his contract at the end of next season, not this season. The window to trade him was [in December], and teams weren’t aggressive enough to get him, so we’re excited about him being a part of our future.”"