Houston Rockets pursuing Brook Lopez trade

By Evan Massey | Jan 16, 2015

Jan 12, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) controls the ball defended by Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) during the third quarter at the Barclays Center. The Rockets defeated the Nets 113-99. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /

The Houston Rockets are reportedly pursuing a trade for Brooklyn Nets big man Brook Lopez.

There have been plenty of rumors lately surrounding Brooklyn Nets big man Brook Lopez, and the Oklahoma City Thunder have been the most talked about team that is pursuing him. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports threw in another intriguing destination, and said that the Houston Rockets were jumping in the trade discussions for Lopez.

Another team probing on Brook Lopez: The Houston Rockets.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 16, 2015

Houston has been very active in trade talks and free agency this season already, and has acquired Corey Brewer, Alexey Shved, and Josh Smith in recent weeks. Adding Lopez to the roster would make them even more intriguing, especially with star big man Dwight Howard already being there.

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Lopez hasn’t fit well with the Nets this season, and has been a walking injury waiting to happen throughout his career. Mason Plumlee has begun coming into his own this season as the Nets’ starting center, and they would like to unload the contract that Lopez is currently playing under. The Rockets would be adding a very good piece to play alongside of Howard, and it would allow him to focus on offense rather than defense with Howard playing behind him.

Throughout the 29 games that Lopez has played in this season, he has averaged 14.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. While he isn’t known for his defense, there is no question that he is capable of helping defend the rim.

The Rockets are without a doubt a contender in the Western Conference this season, and James Harden has been playing the best basketball of his career. They are looking to add everything they can around him to make a run at a title this year, and Lopez would be a very solid pickup.

It would be interesting to see what the Rockets would have to give up in return to make the salaries match. They don’t have a lot in terms of bigger contracts, although they could potentially look into moving pieces like Jason Terry and Kostas Papanikolaou. No matter what ends up happening, seeing the Rockets throw their name into the mix is a very intriguing scenario.

Perhaps the main point in doing this would be to keep the Thunder from getting him and becoming an even more complete and dangerous team. Either way, NBA trade rumors are beginning to pick up with the trading deadline closing in on February 19th.

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