Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
The Houston Rockets have reached agreement on a trade to send center Omer Asik to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for a future first-round draft pick, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
For the Rockets, this is the first step in clearing salary-cap space to pursue LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony in free agency. Houston has to move Jeremy Lin next to create space for a third maximum contract on the roster. Dwight Howardand James Harden are already on max contracts for the Rockets.
The Rockets will acquire what will likely be a late lottery pick, possibly as soon as 2015, from the Pelicans, sources said. The trade cannot be completed until July 10.
Bummer. I’ve been waiting for Danny Ainge to ship the $10.3 million TPE and the Clippers 1st round pick in 2015 to Houston for Asik.
Omer would have been a good defensive compliment to Kevin Love, but you can’t fill out your roster with pricey role players until the stars are in place (Damn you, Flip Saunders).
As far as Love goes, there isn’t much traction on the trade front. Minnesota and Cleveland ceased trade talks once Love let it be known that he would never sign an extension with the Cavs.
There remains plenty of speculation the Celtics will take Joel Embiid at #6. That pick scares the sh*t out of me, but there are medical professionals who like his chances of healing 100%. The Globe’s Jake Fischer reports 5 teams – Cleveland, Boston, Milwaukee, Philly and the Lakers – were given Embiid’s medical records. Interesting side note, Fischer also says teams are trying to buy copies of Embiid’s medical records from teams that have them.
Embiid set Twitter on fire last night:
Embiid attributed the tweet to a friend who took his phone and promptly fired off this warning:
Four angry red emojis? This kid is fierce.
Buckle up, it’s going to be a crazy day. I’ll be in front of the television tonight armed with my laptop and John will be podcasting with Celtics Stuff Live.
The rest of the links:
ESPN Boston – Where does Rondo fit? | Herald – Field for No. 6 down to handful | Mass Live – Nick Johnson brought it for 2nd workout | ESPN – Knicks trade Chandler to Mavs
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