Show me the Money - Rockets Plan #1

The easiest way for the Rockets to solve their problems is to spend a lot of money. To do this the Rockets would have to get approval from ownership to pay a pretty hefty luxury tax bill. If they got the go ahead they could definitely add to the success that they enjoyed last year.

Step 1 - Artest

The first step in this plan is to bring Ron Artest back. Artest teamed with Shane Battier last year to be the best pair of wing defenders in the NBA. With the Rockets' lack of size inside having good wing defenders is very important to their success.

Step 2 - Move McGrady

The second step of this plan is to move the McGrady contract. Plenty of teams are looking to shed salary and with a contract as large as McGrady's (23 mil) the Rockets can surely help. The team that is most looking to shed salary also happens to be able to fill the biggest need that the Rockets have - a center.

Rockets trade Tracy McGrady (1 yr 23 mil) to New Orleans for Tyson Chandler (2 yrs 24.5 mil), James Posey (3 yrs 19.5 mil) and Antonio Daniels (1 yr 6 mil)

That trade would get Houston the big man insurance that they need while also adding another great wing defender. New Orleans would be able to shed 20 million in 2010. New Orleans would probably prefer to add Maurice Peterson instead of Daniels or do the following:

Rockets trade Tracy McGrady (1 yr 23 mil) and Brian Cook (1 yr 3.5 mil) to New Orleans for Tyson Chandler (2 yrs 24.5 mil), and Peja Stojakovic (2 yr 29.5 mil).

New Orleans would shed even more salary in this deal while the Rockets would get two productive (if healthy) players back.

The Rockets would then end up either

• Aaron Brooks/Kyle Lowry/Antonio Daniels
• Ron Artest/Jermaine Taylor/Brent Barry
• Shane Battier/James Posey/Chase Budinger/James White
• Luis Scola/Carl Landry/Chuck Hayes/Brian Cook/Joey Dorsey
• Yao Ming/Tyson Chandler

or

• Aaron Brooks/Kyle Lowry
• Ron Artest/Jermaine Taylor/Brent Barry
• Shane Battier/Peja Stojakovic/Chase Budinger/James White
• Luis Scola/Carl Landry/Chuck Hayes/Joey Dorsey
• Yao Ming/Tyson Chandler

Whichever way the deal would go down, the Rockets would improve. They would be taking on extra salary for 2010 but an Artest signing plus draft picks (they own the Suns 1st round pick in 2010) would make that point moot anyway. In this scenario they really wouldn't be adding a ton of salary for 2009 and would not be very far past the luxury tax.