The Houston Rockets are in need of a big man that can space the floor and make room for James Harden to drive the lane, and they are looking at free agency to solve this problem. Luckily for them, this year has two free agents that are exceptional at spacing the floor – Al Horford and Ryan Anderson. According to Sporting News’ Sean Devaney, the Rockets are looking heavily at both of these big men.
A person familiar with the organization told Sporting News that landing Hawks star Al Horford is the Rockets’ top-line goal in free agency, and Ryan Anderson also would be a possibility. Also, expect Morey to be creative when pursuing sign-and-trade deals involving star players like Blake Griffin, Jimmy Butler or Carmelo Anthony, should they become available.
Al Horford has played at an All-Star level for the Atlanta Hawks for a few years now, but he may not be back in Atlanta next year. Houston would be a good destination for him because he would be a great compliment to Harden. Whenever Harden crashes the paint, it could draw a man off of Horford on the baseline, and he doesn’t miss mid range baseline jumpers often. Houston would also be a nice destination for Horford because they have players that can start at center, and he would be able to move to a more natural position for him: power forward.
Ryan Anderson, on the other hand, would provide less of a scoring option than Horford, but he can still stroke it from deep. Anderson is a great shooter, and if the Rockets want to space the floor, he is a perfect option. He can spread the floor arguably better than any other big man, so offensively, he is a great option to make room for Harden drives.
Horford and Anderson are two great options for the Rockets, and whether they sign both or just one of them, it will turn out in their favor. Hopefully for them, they are able to sign one of them and maybe next year they will win more games and make a deeper run into the playoffs.
