The Houston Rockets acquired 20-year old rookie power forward Furkan Aldemir from the Clippers and they sent cash to the Dallas Mavericks to complete their part of the deal. Aldemir was the 53rd overall pick in last night’s NBA Draft. He is 6′9″, 220 pounds. Aldemir averaged 20.2 minutes, 8.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 0.9 blocked shots per game. The Rockets will have to wait on Aldemir for a couple of years, at least. The bigger, sexier parts of this deal were that the Mavericks dealt Lamar Odom to the Clippers, Mo Williams was dealt from the Clippers to the Jazz and the Mavericks got a huge trade exception in this huge trade.

The Houston Rockets have taken 20-year old PF Terrence Jones out of Kentucky with the 18th overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft. Jones is 6′9″, 252 pounds. He played in 38 games for Kentucky last year and he averaged 29.3 minutes, 12.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.8 blocked shots per game. Jones played in 76 games in his two years with the Wildcats and he averaged 30.4 minutes, 14.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.8 blocked shots per game. This was a good pick for the Rockets as Jones is solid at both ends of the basketball court.

The Houston Rockets picked 21-year old power forward Royce White out of Iowa State with the 16th overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft. White is 6′8″, 270 pounds. White played in 34 games at Iowa State last year (his only one in college) and he averaged 31.5 minutes, 13.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. White shot 53.4% from the floor but only 49.8% from the free throw line last year, so he has some things to work on. That being said, he also has a huge upside.

The Houston Rockets have selected 20-year old shooting guard Jeremy Lamb out of Connecticut with the 12th overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft. Lamb is 6′5″, 180 pounds. Lamb played in 34 games for the Huskies last year and he averaged 37.2 minutes, 17.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He played in 75 games in his two years at Connecticut and he averaged 32.1 minutes, 14.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Lamb is likely going to push Kevin Martin for the starting shooting guard spot in 2012-13.

UPDATE: (10/29/2012) - The Rockets have dealt Jeremy Lamb to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of the James Harden deal.

The Houston Rockets have dealt 31-year old center Samuel Dalembert and the #14 overall pick for the Milwaukee Bucks for 26-year old point guard Shaun Livingston, 23-year old power forward Jon Leuer, 25-year old power forward Jon Brockman and the #12 overall pick in tomorrow night’s NBA Draft. Dalembert played in 65 games (45 starts) for the Rockets last year and he averaged 22.2 minutes, 7.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game. Dalembert has played in 727 games (582 starts) in his first 10 years in the NBA and he is averaging 25.8 minutes, 8.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game.

Shaun Livingston played in 58 games (27 starts) for the Bucks last year and he averaged 18.8 minutes, 5.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He has now played in 324 games (106 starts) in his first seven years in the NBA and he is averaging 22.6 minutes, 6.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He will likely be the Rockets’ backup point guard unless he’s dealt. Jon Leuer was effective as a rookie for the Bucks last year. He played in 46 games (12 starts) for the Bucks last year and he averaged 12.1 minutes, 4.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Jon Brockman is an undersized power forward, but he’s a solid rebounder. Brockman played in 35 games (0 starts) for the Bucks last year and he averaged 6.8 minutes, 1.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Brockman has now played in 150 games (10 starts) in his first three years in the NBA and he is averaging 10.5 minutes, 2.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Make no mistake, this deal was made to shed some salary and to move up 2 spots in the draft, as Livingston, Leuer and Brockman are all bench players.

UPDATE: The Rockets have also received a $2.5 million dollar trade exception from the Bucks in this deal. The Rockets have also sent a future 2nd round pick to the Bucks as part of this deal.

UPDATE II: (7/19/2012) - The Rockets have waived Jon Leuer.

UPDATE III: (10/29/2012) - The Rockets have waived Shaun Livingston.

The Houston Rockets have dealt 24-year old small forward Chase Budinger and the draft rights to Lior Eliyahu to the Timberwolves for the #18 overall pick (first round) and a trade exception worth $854,369. Budinger played in 58 games (9 starts) for the Rockets last year and he averaged 22.4 minutes, 9.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Budinger shot 40.2% from the three point line and the Rockets might miss his outside shooting. He has now played in 210 games (35 starts) in his three years with the Rockets and he averaged 21.5 minutes, 9.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Lior Eliyahu was a second round pick (#44 overall) by the Orlando Magic in the 2006 NBA Draft. He has yet to play in the NBA as he has been playing overseas. This is just the first in what will likely be many deals involving the Rockets in the next few days.

The Houston Rockets have five free agents heading into this summer. Point guard Goran Dragic is probably the biggest priority of this bunch for the Rockets. But they already have Kyle Lowry signed, so I don’t think they will overpay for Dragic. Restricted free agent Courtney Lee is another guy the Rockets wouldn’t mind bringing back for 2012-13, but like Dragic, he will be looking for a starting job. Marcus Camby won’t likely be chased by the Rockets this summer. Jeff Adrien and Earl Boykins will likely be allowed to walk away from Houston this summer.

The Houston Rockets are armed with the #14 and #16 picks in this month’s NBA Draft. I think they are going to get two really good players as this draft is deeper than it has been as of late. In my mock draft found on bloglockers.com, I have the Rockets taking SG Austin Rivers out of Duke with the 14th overall pick. I have the Rockets taking power forward John Henson out of North Carolina with the 16th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. This would be a great haul for the Rockets.