NBA Rumors: Ime Udoka ‘Keeping Tabs’ On Two Ex-Celtics Centers

Under first-year head coach Ime Udoka, the Houston Rockets are slipping deep into rock-bottom territory in the Western Conference.

However, despite sitting in 11th place in the West with a mediocre 22-25 record, Houston isn’t ruled out from being proactive ahead of next Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. Udoka, who spent one season as head coach of the Celtics in 2021-22, is linked to not one, but two ex-Boston centers who’ve also resided on poor-performing teams in the West: Kelly Olynyk of the Utah Jazz and Robert Williams III of the Portland Trail Blazers.

“The Rockets, league sources said, are also exploring the center market, looking to bolster their rim protection,” The Atheltic’s Kelly Iko, Shams Charania and Sam Amick reported Thursday. “According to those sources, Houston is keeping tabs on Utah’s Kelly Olynyk, Atlanta’s Clint Capela, Chicago’s Andre Drummond and Portland’s Robert Williams (who has fans throughout the current coaching staff).”

Williams, who was traded from the Celtics this past offseason in part of the Jrue Holiday swap, revisited the injured list just six games into his debut campaign in Portland. The 26-year-old suffered a season-ending ligament tear in his right knee, requiring surgery in November.

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Of course, Williams and Udoka are plenty familiar with each other. It’s being said that Udoka prefers to utilize Williams in a tandem-like role — similar to how the ’22 roster used him and Al Horford — this time, alongside Houston’s Alperen Sengun.

Houston isn’t positioned for a legitimate run at contention anytime soon, but that isn’t stopping Udoka from re-polishing the roster to his liking. Fresh off a season-long suspension, Udoka’s notable work at the helm with the Celtics — particularly in emphasizing defensive accountability — pushed Boston to its first NBA Finals appearance in over a decade. Although that series ended in a six-game losing battle to the Golden State Warriors, Udoka’s vision for the C’s was both evident and suitable for a pursuit at Banner 18.

The circumstances with the Rockets are much, much different, creating a different type of challenge for Udoka to navigate.

Houston doesn’t have a Jayson Tatum or a Jaylen Brown. They have payroll flexibility, even after signing Fred VanVleet to a three-year, $128 million contract in the offseason. They have young talent in Jalen Green, Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. That leaves a lot of room to get creative and work around with a star piece or two potentially getting the Rockets over the hump from punching bag in the West to B-tier contenders or better.

Currently, Houston ranks third in defensive rebounds (34.7) and seventh in defensive rating (112.4), proving itself to be a Udoka-designed team deep down that has plenty of cleaning up to do around the edges.

The deadline for all teams to finalize any midseason swaps is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET next Thursday.