Houston Rockets trade Trevor Ariza, first-round pick to the Detroit Pistons

The compensation is questionable here for Houston. It had acquired the 16th pick earlier in the week in the same deal that sent Robert Covington to the Portland Trail Blazers and brought Ariza back to Houston.

By moving the veteran forward, the Rockets save $12.8 million against the cap. As reported by Woj, it could help them use the mid-level exception in free agency.

Then again, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta is looking to cut their payroll. It’s led to friction between the owner and Houston’s stars, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Both apparently want out of dodge.

In yet another interesting move on Wednesday, Houston also decided to purchase the Pistons’ second-round pick in 2021 (from the Lakers) for $4.6 million. That runs contrary to the suggestion that Fertitta is being cheap.

There are certainly a lot of moving parts for both the Rockets and Pistons.

New Detroit general manager Troy Weaver now has two first-round picks he can use (seventh and 16th overall). Will the Pistons package those two selections to move further up in the lottery? There are also suggestions that injury-plagued All-Star forward Blake Griffin  could be on the trade block.

The Golden State Warriors are the one team that has been linked to Griffin. They are selecting No. 2 overall Wednesday night and have had discussions with other teams about moving down. The seventh pick and 16th pick could be used along with Griffin to entice Golden State at two.

As for the Rockets, they now don’t have a pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. That makes some sense considering just how up in the air things are right now for Houston.