Houston Rockets Introduce Their Latest Signing Omer Asik

Image After making a flurry of moves this summer, the Houston Rockets are hoping a revitalized roster would make them a genuine playoff contender. In what was the most exciting piece of business during the off-season, the Rockets acquired restricted Jeremy Lin over from New York Knicks with a $25 million offer sheet. They followed that up by acquiring the services of Omer Asik on another offer sheet worth $25 million for three years.
Already crunched Chicago Bulls chose not to match the offer for Asik, leading to him joining the Rockets. On Thursday, the Turkish big man was introduced to the people of Houston. The fan support may have been far less than what Lin got a week ago at the Toyota Center, however the 7 footer was still very excited about joining the Rockets and playing for head Coach, Kevin McHale.

"I'm very happy that I'm going to be working with Kevin McHale, a legendary post player," Asik said. "I know the offense is the missing part of my game, but I believe in myself that I can improve that by working hard every day. I'm sure, if I can get more minutes, I can improve that."

The lack of offense for Asik has been due to the fact that he only got to play around 13.2 minutes per game in the past two seasons while playing as a backup to Joakim Noah.

The Turkish centre is expected to take on the role of a starter next season and receive more playing time.

"It will be a little different for me, I didn't start much there," Asik said.

Asik averaged only 2.9 and 4.4 points respectively in the two previous seasons, however his defensive prowess is what kept him with the best team in the NBA – a fact well recognized by Rockets executive vice president, Sam Hinkie.

"Seven-footers like Omer are in short supply, He's an outstanding help defender, he's a rim protector, he rebounds at both ends of the floor and he's proven this throughout his career." -  Hinkie said

The Rockets have played a big gamble by giving a huge contract to a unproven big, and it is now up to Asik to fulfil on his potential.
Last modified onSaturday, 06 May 2017 10:07