Report: Rockets Trade Ryan Anderson For Knight And Chriss

Keith Allison via Wikimedia Commons

NBA

Report: Rockets Trade Ryan Anderson For Knight And Chriss

Late Thursday night it was reported that the Houston Rockets would be sending forward Ryan Anderson and guard De’Anthony Melton to the Phoenix Suns for Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss (via Woj).

Former NBA Most Improved Player, Ryan Anderson, will be joining the Suns with 2yrs/$41 million remaining on his contract. Anderson agreed to reduce his salary on the second year of his deal from $21 million to $15 million.

Loser: Phoenix Suns

This move by the Suns is a head-scratcher for a team hurting on guard depth. The Suns will now trot out a roster featuring Isaiah Canaan as the starting point guard on opening night.

The Suns were also the worst defensive team in the NBA last year, and Ryan Anderson makes this worse. The only explanation for the Suns to make this trade is to give more playing time to young bigs Dragan Bender and DeAndre Ayton.

Winner: Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey must be feeling proud of himself at the moment. With this move, Morey is able to add a young athletic forward in Marquese Chriss. Chriss should replace former Rocket Luc Mbah a Moute with his good versatility to defend multiple positions and his athleticism.

The Rockets are now taking a chance with Brandon Knight’s contract. Knight, who tore his ACL before the beginning of the 2017-2018 season, is still a good young point guard. It has only been two years since Knight averaged 19.6 points a game for the Suns. He can fill it up quickly off the bench and adds great depth to the roster.

The most important thing to take out of this trade is that the Rockets were able to dump Ryan Anderson’s contract. Anderson has declined in recent years because of his lack of mobility on the defensive side of the ball. This is just the type of moves the Rockets need to make in order to dethrone the Golden State Warriors.