Omer Asik traded to Pelicans for draft pick

After months of speculation and trade rumors, the Houston Rockets have finally traded Omer Asik.

Asik was dealt to the Pelicans in exchange for a first-round pick in 2015, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports. The Rockets are also sending $1.5 million in cash to New Orleans as part of the deal.

Asik is a valuable big man, so what is Houston’s reason for trading him? They hope freeing up the cap space can translate to them landing a bigger star.

The Rockets are in it to win it, and they want to make a run at some of the huge free agents on the market like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. Their next move might be trading Jeremy Lin in order to clear even more cap space. However, USA Today’s Sam Amick says the team would only trade Lin if they land a big free agent.

Asik seemingly became expendable for Houston after the team signed Dwight Howard in free agency last summer. He spent the entire season with the team despite multiple rumors that they would trade him, and he even played on the floor at the same time as Howard though both are centers. Now he’ll be going to a team that already has a strong front court with Anthony Davis.