Hakeem

You should trade players who have greater value in the market than they have to this team, and keep players who have greater value to this team than they have in the market.

For example, Steve Novak would be a moderately valuable player to most teams, given his youth, contract and one unique skill. But he may not be quite as valuable to the Rockets because we already have three power forwards before him on the roster. (However, the Rockets will have a far better idea than anyone else about how good he really is, so they might be the only ones who know his true worth.)

Shane Battier, on the other hand, is probably more valuable to the Rockets than to most other teams. He has learned the offense for a year, he has played with McGrady and Yao for two years, he helps chemistry-wise, and he plays at our thinnest position.

Similarly, Chuck Hayes is little more than a specialist defender, but his value to this team is likely a little more than it is to most others. We don't have any other quality defenders at PF. He is also a guy whose acute lack of offensive ability is difficult to cover up. But this team has gone through the pain of learning to do it, and now he is able to contribute a little on that end for us without hurting us as much as he did before.