Rockets acquire Jason Terry from Kings

The Rockets have acquired a longtime nemesis.

Jason Terry is your newest Houston Rocket after Daryl Morey and company struck a deal with the Sacramento Kings. The Rockets will send non-guaranteed contracts, including Alonzo Gee, to Sacramento in the deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

The Rockets also net two second round picks in the deal for taking on Terry’s contract ($5.8 million salary), which will expire in 2015. They will receive Sacramento’s 2015 second round pick and the New York Knicks’ 2016 second round pick. The Rockets now own/owned New York’s 2014 (Nick Johnson), 2015 and 2016 second round picks.

The Rockets needed some scoring, specifically long-range shooting, and they may get that here in Terry, a career 38% three-point shooter. The knock here is that Terry will be 37 years old when the season starts. After he was traded to Sacramento at last year’s deadline, he sat out the remainder of the season to rehab his left knee. It’s not clear if he has little in the tank or just didn’t want to play for the Kings, but the Rockets are willing to find out.

So now the Rockets add a second point guard to their history with the nickname “The Jet”, though I certainly don’t recall anyone calling Kenny Smith that during his playing days. Terry also has a long history of being a Rocket killer. Interestingly, I spoke to him about this a couple of years ago.

However, after a disappointing offseason, acquiring a significant player via trade still remains Houston’s primary goal. In this move, regardless of how Terry impacts (or doesn’t impact) the team’s play this season, the Rockets improved their trade position moving forward by adding two additional picks and an expiring contract that can be combined with other contracts 60 days after this deal is done.