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Meet Aaron Brooks

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By Aykis16
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In addition to Monday's acquisition of James Johnson, the Kings also solidified their backcourt by signing Point Guard Aaron Brooks to a 2 year deal. We asked Tom Martin, editor of SB Nation's Rockets blog The Dream Shake to give us a breakdown of the player we're getting. Brooks played all but 25 games of his NBA career in Houston, and won the NBA's Most Improved Player award for the Rockets in 2010.

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Strengths: Great dribble, can weave and slash through just about anything. Good pull-up jumper if he creates enough separation. Smart, diverse scorer in general, can make a basket from anywhere. He got much better his third year at finishing in the lane, so while he still gets blocked every now and then, it's not as bad as it was before. He's a willing passer but not necessarily a great one, but it's still a big part of his game. He can really get out and run in transition, his speed is up there with the fastest in the league. Excellent free-throw shooter. Takes care of the ball for the most part - his TO numbers aren't bad at all. Isn't afraid to take the big shot -- some of our most memorable moments from 2009 and 2010 came when Brooks stepped up and either knocked down a big three or drove to the hole and surprised everyone with a layup. He's pretty durable for his size, despite missing games in his final year.

Weaknesses: He's listed at six feet, but he's really about 5'9 or 5'10 if you ask me. His defense can be dreadful at times, and it's not due to a lack of effort -- he can get picked and screened into oblivion because he's so small. He's trigger happy from three a little too often and won't hesitate to pull-up just for the hell of it. He's nothing without his jumper, and when that started to go away in late 2010, the Rockets knew they had to dump him. I think he's grown into the point guard position well, but his game fits the two-guard position much more. Fairly streaky as well as a shooter - can get hot one week and very cold the next.

Who knows how much Brooks has changed since going to China? I haven't seen him play in almost two years, and that's when his game took a turn for the worse. But Aaron is a hard worker and really enjoys the game -- if he can find his stroke again, you're looking at a very exciting, productive point guard on offense. Let's hope Robinson and Boogie can man the fort on D when he loses his man.

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Big thanks to Tom for the breakdown.

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