First Westbrook, Then Chandler...Is Iggy Next?

Jeff Balke July 15, 2019 5:30AM

Photo by Keith Allison via Flickr

Andre Iguodala (right) is high atop the remaining Rockets wish list.

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The first ten days of free agency ended in a whirlwind for the Rockets who traded Chris Paul and draft picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder for former MVP Russell Westbrook. We can get into the whole "will this thing actually work" soon enough. For now, Rockets GM Daryl Morey continued doing his job, working to land additional pieces for the season.

That began with the signing of veteran big man Tyson Chandler. Chander will be entering his 19th season and made the decision to join the Rockets, it has been reported, after the trade for Westbrook. Chandler, despite his age, will make a capable backup to replace Nene. He is perfect for the Rockets pick-and-roll-and-lob offense and remains a very solid rebounder.

In fact, adding Chandler and Westbrook should significantly upgrade the team's biggest weakness last season: rebounding.

It should also be noted that the Rockets also added former first overall pick Anthony Bennett. Since coming into the league Bennett fell hard, landing in the G-League the last two seasons, reportedly due to some poor work habits. However, the 26-year-old, 6-foot 8-inch forward seems to have turned things around for himself and had interest from NBA teams. What likely most attracted the Rockets was the fact that he has attempted to remake himself as a three-point specialist with size. He shot 45 percent from beyond the arc in the G-League last season.

But, the Rockets will be looking to another veteran to round out their lineup. The Warriors traded Andre Iguodala to Memphis in part to make space for a move that netted them D'Angelo Russell. But Iguodala not only has playoff experience, but can knock down threes (ask the Rockets) and plays solid defense. Multiple teams are interested in his services and the price will have to be right for the Grizzlies. A recent rumor had the Rockets shipping a newly-signed Iman Shumpert to Memphis with a draft pick for Iguodala, but the pick may not have been high enough.

If the Rockets are able to add Iguodala, it would complete quite the makeover of the roster while still keeping intact the core group of guys that has been with the team for the last couple seasons including Clint Capela, Eric Gordon and P.J. Tucker. That's quite a feat considering where they were after most of the big names in free agency fell off the board.

Even if they aren't able to add Iggy to the roster, there are trade avenues still available to them or they could choose to bring back Shumpert and see how things go until the trade deadline at midseason.

Either way, it's a big difference from where they were when Chris Paul was still their point guard. And there is still quite a ways between now and training camp. The Rockets are clearly all in for this season (and a little longer considering Westbrook and James Harden's age). Iguodala would be icing on what has been a pretty solid slice of offseason cake.