Rockets fleece Lakers in Lou Williams trade
- by Elias Mendoza
- in Sports
- — Feb 23, 2017
As you can see above, the most desperate East buyers are the ones needing to shore up their bench.
Giving up a late first-round pick to replace Corey Brewer with Lou Williams is a worthy tradeoff for a team looking to compete for a title this year. Another report suggests that Williams explosive scoring talent is wasted in Lakers and the trade will be beneficial to both players. That being said, if Williams can ultimately hold down a 20-to-25-minute role, he should still be able to hit the low double figures in scoring with regularity while providing beneficial production beyond the arc and at the free-throw line.
Williams brings the ability to create on his own, as he is in the 94th percentile in pick and roll situations, and 92nd when factoring passes.
This deal doesn't shift the landscape in the Western Conference, or help the Rockets match up differently with Golden State. He will be paid $7 million for the 2016-17 and the 2017-18 seasons respectively. Brewer also has two years remaining on his contract. He'll provide instant offense for the Rockets.
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The Jags would save only $1.7 million against the cap by cutting Thomas , so a trade does make slightly more sense for them. Jaguars fans should expect further draft investment along the line as no one should expect Albert to play an entire season.
A key element in the trade is the draft pick the Lakers received. The veteran guard is shooting 44.4 percent from the field, his highest mark since 2009-10, a career-high 38.6 percent from three and a career-best effective field goal percentage of 52.7 percent.
The additions of the veterans Gordon, Ryan Anderson and Nene have been ideal fits the MVP race leader Harden. This season, they are sorely missing the presence of Jeremy Lin in the second unit. When Harden sits, the offensive rating for the Rockets drops to 105, a good mark for some teams but paltry for Houston.
Almost all the previous reports indicated that LA was looking for a first-round draft pick, so that was clearly expected, but it seems like Utah (or several other teams for that matter), could have easily packaged together a first-round draft pick along with a player that would have been much more serviceable than journeyman Corey Brewer. The Lakers received a first-round pick for a player that wasn't in their long-term plans, while the Rockets received an elite offensive guard for a relatively cheap price.
"He's locked in for a bargain $7 million next season".
