The Houston Rockets are doing their best to move frustrated center Omer Asik.
Asik of course was the Rockets center of the future until Dwight Howard became apple of Houston’s eye. Asik and Howard can’t play on the floor together, so the Rockets are trying to figure out a trade.
The Rockets have struggled to find a partner who will give up a first round pick and take on his $15 million salary for next season.
Asik will only count $8.4 million against the cap, but the salary is beyond his fair market value. One rival NBA GM called the Rockets asking price “delusional.”
Houston’s disgruntled center has been unhappy with his role since the Rockets landed Dwight Howard, and the situation isn’t going to get any better. After playing four minutes at Philadelphia on Nov. 13 and riding the bench against the Knicks on Nov. 14, Asik finally logged 20-plus minutes in back-to-back games this week for the first time since early November. The limiting factor, of course, is that while Asik counts only $8.4 million against the cap/tax, his actual salary next season is $15 million. Given those constraints and Asik’s sad-sack demeanor, one rival GM described the Rockets as “delusional” as far as their asking price for him.