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We're about two weeks into the 2013-14 NBA season and the trade rumours have started already.
Perhaps it's no surprise considering the Raptors' shaky start, and contractual/management situation, but the first one hot off the press from earlier today is that Toronto is being mentioned as a potential destination for Houston Rockets' big man Omer Asik.
Rockets center Omer Asik has requested a trade, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle. Asik played just four minutes in the team's loss to the 76ers on Wednesday. While the Rockets aren't looking to deal Asik at the moment, multiple sources said the Raptors are one team that's already highly interested.
Here's the thing...I'm not sure how such a trade would work for either team.
As our cohorts over at Raptors Republic have already noted, Asik would land here in a similar situation to what's going on in Houston where instead of fighting with Dwight Howard for playing time, he'd be battling with Jonas Valanciunas. And yes, Valanciunas is having trouble getting big minutes as it is.
Plus, how would this work for Houston? No way they take back Lowry, and the contracts of Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan, two other potential trade chips this season, aren't exactly a good fit there.
Which,as Raps Repub discusses, leaves Amir Johnson as a likely "Rockets Wish List" candidate. However while he makes sense for the Rockets, I'm not sure how such a move (forget the financials for a moment) helps Toronto at all, whether it be to tank or make the playoffs. I'm a big Asik fan, but right now I can't see how a move to acquire him would make much sense for the Dinos.