Now that the Rockets have Dwight Howard, the goal is to surround him and the rest of the team’s core with enough talent and depth to build a contending team.
With that goal in mind, the Rockets have officially added two perimeter threats that should be able to take advantage of the space Howard creates when bullying his way in the post.
Per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, the team has inked point guard Aaron Brooks and swingman Reggie Williams to contracts:
Rockets signings of Reggie Williams, Aaron Brooks now official. Brooks one year; Williams two with the second at a team option.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) July 19, 2013
The Rockets are quite familiar with Brooks who was brought back to the team for his second stint last season at the trade deadline. Brooks gave the Rockets some depth at point guard behind Jeremy Lin and Patrick Beverly, offering a change of pace to both players by using his quickness and scoring instincts to create offensively.
Heading into next year, Brooks will likely retain that role as the 3rd point guard, but offers insurance in the back court should the Rockets end up moving Jeremy Lin in a trade for the third star that can complement both Howard and James Harden.
Williams, meanwhile, offers the Rockets some needed depth on the wing behind Harden, Chandler Parsons, and Francisco Garcia. Williams has languished in Charlotte, only appearing in 73 games over the past two seasons and saw his minutes and points per game dip to 9.5 and 3.7 respectively. That said, if he can recapture some of the explosive offensive ability he flashed in Golden State, he can be a serviceable pick up.
And, really, that’s the point of what the Rockets are doing at this point. They landed their big fish in Howard and it’s now about finding the right pieces to fill in the gaps and make the team as strong as possible. In Brooks and, potentially, Williams they’ve done just that.
