Troy Taormina-USA Today Sports
Ever since former Los Angeles Lakers superstar Dwight Howard announced his intentions to join the Houston Rockets, everyone has automatically assumed that Rockets starting center Omer Asik would be on the trading block. As of right now, it looks like that would be a false assumption, as a majority of the Rockets organization has said they will try to mend fences with Asik and convince him that Houston is the right place for him. The question is, are the Rockets telling him the truth? Are the Houston Rockets the best fit for Omer Asik right now?
Last season, the Rockets were ranked 16th as they held teams to 103.5 points per 100 possessions. That will not cut it if the Rockets have multiple NBA Finals appearances in their plans. Whenever Omer Asik was on the bench, either for rest or just in foul trouble, Houston was then one of the worst defenses in the entire NBA, making the need to add another center even bigger. Well, Houston did that when they signed Dwight Howard. The problem is that Dwight will take Asik’s place in the starting lineup, and that didn’t make Asik happy at all, not one little bit.
One solution could be to play Asik at Power Forward, and have two seven-foot centers down low. We saw the Lakers do that with Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol, and that did not work out very well. Gasol might not be your typical center, but he can play the position. If you don’t want to play Asik at PF, then just give him the “sixth-man role” but instead just give him starter-type minutes off the bench.
I can see Omer Asik’s side of the story. He wants to be the guy down-low; he doesn’t want to play second-fiddle to Dwight, and he wants the starting position. There is no chance he will start over Dwight, but he thinks he should. If all Omer Asik is going to do is whine and complain the whole time, then yes, trade him right now. On the other hand, if you can convince him to remain a Houston Rocket, then I believe they can make it work.
