The Houston Rockets have waived guards Shaun Livingston, Gary Forbes and forwards Jon Brockman, Lazar Hayward and JaJuan Johnson to get down to a 15-man roster to open the 2012-13. Livingston will likely have little trouble finding a new gig soon, but the rest of the guys might wind up in the D-League for a while before getting another shot at the NBA. The Rockets won’t miss too many guys out of this bunch.

The Rockets kept making offers to teams over the summer for star players, but no one bit….that is…until last night. The Rockets have acquired 23-year old shooting guard James Harden, 23-year old center Cole Aldrich, 25-year old SG/SF Daequan Cook and 25-year old small forward Lazar Hayward from the Thunder. In return, the Rockets are sending 29-year old shooting guard Kevin Martin, rookie 20-year old shooting guard Jeremy Lamb, a first round pick in 2013 from both the Mavericks and Raptors and a 2nd round pick of Bobcats in the 2013 NBA Draft.

The Rockets are likely going to try to sign James Harden to a max contract extension and make him their starting shooting guard from Day #1. He will team with Jeremy Lin to give the Rockets a pretty good looking starting guard tandem. Harden played in 62 games (2 starts) for the Thunder last year and he averaged 31.4 minutes, 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Harden has now played in 220 games (7 starts) in his first three years in the NBA and he is averaging 26.7 minutes, 12.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. His scoring average has gone up three years in a row now and he was voted the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2011-12. Cole Aldrich was a first round pick just three years ago, so he might have some untapped talent. Aldrich played in 26 games (0 starts) for the Thunder last year and he averaged 6.7 minutes, 2.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. Aldrich has now played in 44 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 7.2 minutes, 1.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Daequan Cook is a gunner off the bench. He played in 57 games (22 starts) for the Thunder last year and he averaged 17.4 minutes, 5.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. He has now played in 279 games (48 starts) in his first five years in the NBA and he is averaging 19.9 minutes, 7.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Lazar Hayward played in 26 games (0 starts) for the Thunder last year and he averaged 5.4 minutes, 1.4 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. He has now played in 68 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 8.2 minutes, 2.9 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Hayward is only shooting 35.4% from the floor so far in his career. Aldrich, Cook and Hayward could help the Rockets off the bench….if they all make the team.

Kevin Martin has been in head coach Kevin McHale’s Dog House for a while, so he probably welcomes this deal. He will likely have Harden’s role in Oklahoma City as an assassin off the bench. Martin played in 40 games (all starts) for the Rockets last year and he averaged 31.6 minutes, 17.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He played in 144 games (142 starts) in his three years with the Rockets and he averaged 32.8 minutes, 21.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Jeremy Lamb was one of the Rockets’ first round picks in last June’s NBA Draft and he has a big upside. The Rockets also gave up three valuable draft picks that they had in their kitty. The Rockets really need for James Harden to be a star to make this trade look good for them as they gave up a lot to get him.

UPDATE: (10/29/2012) - The Rockets have waived Lazar Hayward.

The Houston Rockets are in a big time rebuilding mode right now. They are one of youngest teams in the NBA and that usually leads to a lot of losses. With that in mind, I would definitely take the under for the Rockets in 2012-13. I can’t wait to see how they do, because they ripped down the roster while curiously inking Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik to big deals over the summer.

The Rockets dismantled the roster, but they then signed Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik to big deals. It will be interesting to see if 54-year old head coach Kevin McHale can whip his team into shape quickly, or if they will struggle big time in 2012-13. Only time will tell. McHale was 34-32 (51.5%) in his first season as the Rockets’ head coach. He is now 73-87 (45.6%) in his first three years as an NBA head coach. McHale’s hair is likely going to grow grayer as the season wears on.

25-year old power forward Jon Brockman is out indefinitely due to a eye problem. Brockman came to the Rockets in the Samuel Dalembert deal with the Bucks over the summer. 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. The Rockets should be o.k. without Brockman as he had a few guys ahead of him on the depth chart at power forward.

UPDATE: (10/29/2012) - The Rockets have waived Jon Brockman.

The Houston Rockets went all in with 26-year old center Omer Asik, signing him to a huge contract over the summer. He will take over as the Rockets’ starting center from Day #1. He played in 66 games (2 starts) for the Bulls last year and he averaged 14.7 minutes, 3.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Asik has now played in 148 games (2 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 13.2 minutes, 2.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He is going to rebound and play defense really well for the Rockets this year, book it. 22-year old Donatas Motiejunas will be Asik’s top backup in 2012-13. He was a first round pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. He played in 51 games in Poland, VTB United League and Euroleague last year in which he averaged 27.3 minutes, 14.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He has a nice upside. 21-year old Greg Smith will be #3 in line at center for the Rockets if he makes the roster. He played in 8 games (0 starts) as a rookie for the Rockets last year and he averaged 8.6 minutes, 1.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CENTERS IN 2012-13: B

It appears that 23-year old Patrick Patterson will get his big shot to show what he can do in 2012-13. He played in 64 games (1 start) for the Rockets last year and he averaged 23.2 minutes, 7.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Patterson has now played in 116 games (7 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 20.3 minutes, 7.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. 21-year old Royce White was a first round pick last June in the NBA Draft. He played in only one season for Iowa State in which he averaged 31.5 minutes, 13.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. White is afraid to fly, which will make his development fascinating to watch. He has a big time upside. 23-year old JaJuan Johnson, 25-year old Jon Brockman and 23-year old Marcus Morris will fight for P.T. behind Patterson and White. Johnson played in 36 games (0 starts) as a rookie for the Celtics last year and he averaged 8.3 minutes, 3.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. 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. Marcus Moore was buried on the bench for the Rockets as a rookie last year. Moore played in 17 games (0 starts) for the Rockets last year and he averaged 7.4 minutes, 2.4 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POWER FORWARDS IN 2012-13: C

30-year old Carlos Delfino will likely be the starting small forward for the Houston Rockets when the 2012-13 season opens, but he will have to play well to keep the job. He played in 54 games (53 starts) for the Bucks last year and he averaged 28.5 minutes, 9.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Delfino has now played in 440 games (165 starts) in his first seven years in the NBA and he is averaging 22.5 minutes, 7.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. 23-year old Chandler Parsons will likely be #2 in line at small forward for the Rockets in 2012-13. He played in 63 games (57 starts) for the Rockets as a rookie last year and he averaged 28.6 minutes, 9.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. 20-year old rookie first round pick Terrence Jones will be the #3 small forward when this year begins, but he could be the starter at some point this year. Jones played in 76 games in his two years at Kentucky 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. He has a huge upside. 27-year old Gary Forbes is #4 in line at small forward for the Rockets. He played in 48 games (2 starts) for the Raptors last year and he averaged 14.9 minutes, 6.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Forbes has now played in 111 games (13 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 13.5 minutes, 5.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SMALL FORWARDS IN 2012-13: C-