JULY 8: The complex five-team trade that sends Brooks to Houston has been finalized, the Rockets announced in a press release The breakdown of the deal, which combined several separate trade agreements, is as follows:
- Rockets acquire Brooks (via sign-and-trade), the Clippers’ 2026 second-round pick, the Grizzlies’ 2027 second-round pick (from Clippers), and the draft rights to Alpha Kaba (from Hawks).
- Hawks acquire Usman Garuba, TyTy Washington, the Timberwolves’ 2025 second-round pick (from Rockets), the Rockets’ 2028 second-round pick, and cash (from Thunder).
- Grizzlies acquire Josh Christopher.
- Thunder acquire Patty Mills, a 2024 second-round pick (from Rockets), the Rockets’ 2029 second-round pick, and the Rockets’ 2030 second-round pick.
- Clippers acquire Kenyon Martin Jr.
In a separate deal, Oklahoma City will ship Mills to Atlanta in exchange for Garuba, Washington, Rudy Gay and a second-round pick.
6:04pm: The Rockets will acquire Brooks via sign-and-trade, generating a trade exception for the Grizzlies, Wojnarowski confirms (via Twitter).
Sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link) that Houston is trading Josh Christopher to Memphis. Although Iko doesn’t specify it will be part of a Brooks sign-and-trade, that seems logical.
The Grizzlies’ trade exception for Brooks would be $11.4MM due to base year compensation rules, notes Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link). If Christopher heads to Memphis in the deal, that TPE would shrink to $8.9MM, Gozlan adds.
5:20pm: The Rockets and Brooks have agreed to a four-year deal worth $80MM, agent Mike George tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
The deal will have a descending structure, tweets Wojnarowski. It will be fully guaranteed, with no player or team option, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
As with VanVleet, Houston’s offer in order to secure a commitment ended up being for more years and more money than initially anticipated.
JULY 1, 4:35pm: The Rockets are close to reaching a contract agreement with unrestricted free agent Dillon Brooks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
While Houston has the cap room necessary to sign Brooks outright, the team has been engaged in trade talks around the league, according to Charania, who says a sign-and-trade with the Grizzlies is a possibility if the Rockets reach a deal with the veteran forward.
Brooks was frequently linked to the Rockets in the days leading up to free agency. One report indicated that Houston was preparing to offer him a deal in the range of $14-16MM annually, while another stated the team had a meeting lined up for Friday or Saturday with the 27-year-old.
Brooks is a talented perimeter defender who earned All-Defensive Second Team honors this spring, but he has become an increasingly erratic shooter, making a career-worst 39.6% of his field goal attempts in 2022/23. His three-point percentage dipped to 32.1% on 5.6 attempts per game during the last two seasons after he converted 35.3% of 4.5 threes per game in his first four seasons, all with the Grizzlies.
On top of his offensive struggles, Brooks’ outsized personality and aggressive playing style have gotten him into trouble both on the court and in interviews off it. He received three one-game suspensions this season, once for an on-court altercation with Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell and twice for accumulating so many technical fouls.
Brooks ultimately wore out his welcome in Memphis, with a report after the season indicating that the Grizzlies didn’t plan to bring him back “under any circumstances.” His performance during the team’s first-round loss to the Lakers was reportedly considered to be a breaking point. Brooks referred to Lakers star LeBron James as “old” following Memphis’ Game 2 win, suggesting the NBA’s all-time leading scorer was well past his prime.
He was then ejected from Game 3 for hitting James in the groin, surrendered a pair of key baskets to LeBron in a Game 4 loss, and was eventually fined $25K for declining to speak to reporters after three games of the series (all losses). Offensively, Brooks shot just 31.2% from the field and 23.8% on three-pointers across six playoff games.
A change of scenery could benefit Brooks, and the Rockets have reportedly been prioritizing tough, defensive-minded veterans under new head coach Ime Udoka. Houston has reached an agreement with Fred VanVleet and was said to be aggressive in its pursuit of Defensive Player of the Year runner-up Brook Lopez, who ultimately decided to remain in Milwaukee.
They need vets. Hope he’s learned not to cross the line.
Double overpay again
Desperate
Agree silly,not a chain mover. Huge over pay.
Brooks and Kevin Porter in the same Locker room ? Going to be interesting.
Yes seriously overpay ….. Udoka must think he’s Isiah Thomas …
1st Fred VanVleet 3 years $130 million
2nd Dillon Brooks 4 years $80 million
3rd Jock Landale 4 years $32 million
Ime Udoka deserves it for them to get some nice veterans on the team. Houston Rockets may have overpaid for all of them but it’s not a bad move because they contracts are worth more than their production. It’s about establishing a culture down in Houston with tough and hard nose competitive dudes that made their names in this league on the defensive end.
Fred VanVleet will be the starting Point Guard and Dillon Brooks will be the starting Small Forward and Jock Landale will be the backup Center to Alperen Sengun. A starting five of
SF Dillon Brooks
PF Jabari Smith Jr.
C Alperen Sengun
SG Jalen Green
PG Fred VanVleet
This is a team that can compete for a playoff spot and definitely the play in. I’m pretty sure it’s some more moves on the way so I’m not sure how the bench is going to be but it’s a whole lot of talent over there.
I’m hearing Kenyon Martin Jr. is on the trading block. He’s oozing with talent.
Fred VanVleet will really help Amen Thompson grow and Dillon Brooks will really help the young fella Cam Whitmore grow.
Teams say Cam Whitmore slipped in the draft because at least 5 general managers didn’t like how he interviewed and they might be right. Same thing they was saying about Dillon Brooks and even to the current date. We all see he’s a dog!!! Then a stomp down defensive player that can guard three and four positions out there. That’s what Cam Whitmore can become just more athletic.
I love what the Houston Rockets have done. In the words of Kendrick Perkins they got some adults in the room.
4/80 is a over pay. I just don’t see another team coming even close to that. One of those contracts that will be traded around as salary dump in a few years. Houston is making it hard in the future to pay out younger players.
You just don’t get it. If the rockets don’t overpay NOBODY would sign with them. Their culture has become that bad, so they overpaid to get a few guys who could help and CHANGE that culture. Come on it’s not hard to understand they’ve won like 50 games total over the last 3 years
100% agree
Lmao I like how when Dillon Brooks is in Memphis he’s a “clown” (don’t disagree), but now that he’s in Houston, we regard him as a “dog.”
Have fun with one of the most inefficient players in the NBA
If he takes the pj tucker role (dog defender and post up in the corner for 3) then it should work great otherwise you’re right it’ll backfire
“If he takes the PJ Tucker role…”
That would be great, and ideally, he would embrace such. But he won’t; he’s stubborn and demands an extensive offensive role despite being a liability when playing iso-ball.
Additionally, I don’t think someone like Tucker is worth $20 million/year
The rockets won 22 games last year. They had to overpay to get ANYBODY it’s that simple. Before the playoffs last year everyone loved Brooks as a dog defender. Yes I know he said he wants more shots but I love the note that the rockets talked to him about his role before signing him. I don’t think Udoka will put up with any of his bs
“If he takes the pj tucker role”
Brooks is the antithesis of Tucker on offense. Tucker only shoots when he is wide open or when he has to (like the shot clock winding down). Brooks has never met a shot he didn’t like and is one of the biggest chuckers in the league. You’d be asking Brooks to completely overhaul his game.
@Wagner you’re right brooks is still a clown fake tough guy. But he is also the best defensive SF on the market. It’s a Hail Mary punt that Ime can curb his ego a bit. If it goes well, great. If not it’s just a salary fill for a few years. Either way it’s an improvement on the court…..but for the record I don’t like the move.
Rockets just flipped kj Martin to the clippers for 2 2nd round picks. Get the tank trash out I’m loving it. The rockets won’t be good this year but definitely taking a step in the right direction
Lopez is coming next. You heard it from me
Good weed in Pittsburgh? Compared to this amazing cali bud?
Brook is staying with the Bucks
Yeah Dillon Brooks doesn’t exactly have a rep for being a positive culture setter. With “yoots” like Ja, Bane and JJ Jr bring so young you would think the Grizzlies would’ve held on to or at least shown interest in keeping him. Instead they announced almost immediately that they had no intentions on bringing him back. He’s tissues version of Lance Stephenson. A goof ball that thinks he’s tough.
Houston: Who by gosh will rid me of all this extra cash we MUST spend??
Brooks: I’ll be your huckleberry.
It’s Hucklebearer not huckleberry
You sir are smoking some OG Kush.
Denver
Sac
Memphis
Phoenix
Lakers
Clips
Pelicans
OKC
Utah
Mavs are all better than Houston. San Antonio should show some improvement. Portland will likely take a step backwards. Dillon and Vleet aren’t likely to get them to 40 wins.
I wish I had some og kush not that fake stuff that people claim they have everyday I’m talking the real og bubba kush. That stuff is legendary right now
Anyways I never said they’d be so playoff team I said they are moving in the right direction. They should be in the fight for the top draft pick next year that’s a start. 30+ wins is a good step forward
Houston gonna be nasty next year.
That humidity makes it nasty every year
Nah, they really won’t be.
They needed 2 wings that dont need the ball in their hands, and can shoot, preferably someone that can defend…
I guess two out three ain’t bad, because Brooks can’t shoot.
And he ALWAYS has the ball in his hands, unfortunately
Neither can fred
I mean yeah he’s a fit on court, but off-court? Not the best vibe for a young unit that’s primed to contend sooner than later.
Udoka isn’t Silas if brooks Fs around he won’t be around long
Neither was Udoka after he f-ed around…
Haha zing
Different kind of fudge around. I actually really like these moves. Let’s say the rockets did nothing and just ran it back again, they’d be lucky to win 25 games. At some point you had to start to change the narrative. Sure FVV and brooks probably don’t make this a playoff squad but it should slowly bring the organization back to respectable. Let me go pull the article I just read the other day. This all make sense, well except the Atlanta trade still scratching my head on why they didn’t just dump tyty and Garuba instead of attaching draft picks to them
Apparently? To clear some space for Jock Landale and Patty Mills.
Veterans not ideal but I won’t cry about it. Can’t find that article… I’m on vacation, when I get back home to my pc it should be a lot easier to find. Rockets players were quoted as saying “we’re doomed”. It was a really good read to let you understand how much of a sh*thole the rockets organization really became post harden
He’s not even a fit on the court. He’s barely even an NBA player. Of course he’s decent at defense when he spends zero energy scoring points.
This is the worst acquisition of the entire year so far.
Decent at defense ? He was a top 10 defender last year based on his 2nd all team defense
That proves he was perceived as one. Not that he was.
You’re right all team defense is rigged why do we even have it. Hell why do we even play the games they are just perceived as basketball players let’s just sit around in a circle jerk and give the warriors the title every day. You are the latest clown to be muted CONGATS
Houston looks to be outbidding the Guangdong Tigers
This is an underrated move. With Van vleet and Udoka at the helm, Houston gonna be dogs. They will be the toughest team in the league
I finally agree with you. Rocket fans are whining and moaning all day and I find it hilarious. Brooks was 2nd team all defense LAST YEAR + it was noted the rockets talked to him about what his role needs to be here (mainly defense and spot up shots ala pj tucker). Worst team for 3 years finally getting some good players and people whine. Nothing better than laughing at grown men crying about sports
There fanbase are a bunch of 14 year olds if your on instagram
Nope never been on instagram Twitter and while we’re at it Snapchat TikTok telegram or any of that. I stopped social media at Facebook. I’m more talking the dream shake and ClutchFans I had to make some popcorn the tears are real I wish I could lick them up ala cartman
Yeah sure man, they are definitely going from 22-60 to “the toughest team in the league” just from adding two signings of mid players, you totally arent a homer at all hahaha
You do realize GSW can put Draymond, CP3 and GP2 on court together, right?
I don’t think they’ll be the toughest team but I think they’ll win more then 22 games. Maybe you should worry about paying the dirtiest player in the league 100 million over the next 4 years
You do realize Chris Paul is going to be injured most games. You do realize that you predicted that the warriors wouldn’t lose 3 more games after the kings beat them game one yet you’re still here popping off at the mouth. When you guarantee stuff like that and then are totally wrong you just come off like a clown. Go talk with the rest of the bandwagon fans
Those shooting #’s look just as good as Freddy V’s!! $15M is a steal, especially considering he brings the D-fence!
It’s actually 20 million
Yeah, and they suck for both players lol, more so Brooks.
I like FVV and his third year is a team option so his contract really isn’t bad. Also it isn’t 15 million a year it’s 43
It’s fully guaranteed, where did you see it as a team option for his 3rd year?
You’ll have to jump around to see it. I’m not on twitter, you used to be able to click a link and see it in twitter but now it takes you to a login screen. Pretty much other forums I go to had screenshots of it, I think this one on Reddit leads to it but can’t confirm
link to reddit.com
Lol 210mil and u got FVV and Brooks.
Did you not read that article back in February about how the nba looks at the rockets organization? Read it and you’ll understand why this was necessary
I just dont understand why not target their specific needs more. I also still dont understand why they didnt let John Wall play with them, twice, b/c he was theoretically a fot next to those guys as a playmaker/defender at the time, but it could have also given them an idea of the types of people they should be targeting now
I do like they’re finally doing what I said for these last 2 seasons, which is figuring out who they want to play in what roles, with all of their talent, and probably moving the rest b/c they had some redundancies in certain areas, with a lot of talent playing out of position a lot
….also, I completely forgot about the draft and it kind of made some of what I said a little off lol
I think the not playing Wall situation was about the tanking. Wemby is the best prospect since lebron James and they felt they had a real chance to nab him. Wall wasn’t helping the tank job
Can you summarize/provide a link? Not sure if I read it before.
I was trying to find it, give me til next week and I’ll post a link to it once I find it. Just they talked to a bunch of players and people in the organization and the quote from them is “we’re doomed”. They had absolutely no structure, Silas was brought in to be the tank commander and they broke him in the process. Let me try one more time to find it
No luck man sorry. I’ll find it just will take time. Im hoping someone sees this and knows what im talking about and might be able to help
Alright found it. Sorry I misquoted it wasn’t we’re doomed it’s were a mess. This really made me understand why the organize needs to be flipped upside down like this
link to syndication.bleacherreport.com
Add the comments John wall made about the organization it all makes sense
Thanks!
I guess he isn’t going to china after all.
A rhyme:
FVV is a winner being a main top 5 MPG guy on a Finals champ, Brooks is a loser who refused to show his face to media after he talked so much smack.
This is up there with the Jerami Grant turd of a contract for worst of free agency
Grant’s contest is no where near bring a horrible contacts. 3 and D wings can can score 20+ and give you a little bit of everything get paid and are fewer than the market provides. How many forwards scored 20+ last year? My guess is fewer than 15.
Don’t know why Jerami gets no respect. One of best 2way talents in the game to me. Right there with Jimmy
Right there with Jimmy? Al, go home you’re drunk.
Likely because any team Grant can average 20 on will struggle to win 35 games a year, Al.
It’s honestly a good fit. Rockets have plenty of young offense talent and need someone to show the kids how to do the dirty work. Also, it’s not like the rockets will be in a position for dillons mouth to write checks they can’t cash.
Hahaha….Rockets giving Brooks 80 million….hilarious….because he sucks….
I’m no fan of Dillon Brooks but the dude got the last laugh on all those people trashing him a month ago saying he was going to be out of the league in a year. I guess he might be but he will be sitting on 80 mil at the crib.
Meh.
Plus: will bring defensive intensity, something the team badly needs and which the young players can learn from (hopefully not the dirty aspect of his game)
Cons: another chucker with questionable shot selection (already an issue) and someone who will want an outsized role. And don’t love this from a character standpoint, unlike with FVV.
On a shorter deal I could dig it more, but not so much on four fully guaranteed years at that price. Ime has his work cut out for him this time around.
For a guy who is arguably one of the worst active players in the league analytically (VORP), this contract will certainly age well…
This is the bad team tax. They’re not getting anyone of note if they don’t overpay
So they do a Mozgov level deal?
Houston are a dumpster fire and this is just gasoline…
Dumb move… Might as well move the team to China…
The mute button was specifically made for clowns like this
I didn’t even notice Christopher was in this…I guess he is also a little redundant at guard, but I think he could have still be useful at a couple of positions if they did different things with their targets
It’s crazy how much talent Houston has just given away as easy as they acquired it, but as I said, they had to figure out who their core was.
I like this for Memphia. Gives them a little of something they didnt have
What talent did they give away?
garuba: garbage
tyty: too small:
josh Christopher: chucker low basketball iq, but more so get him away from Jalen Green.
Kj: high fly dunks with no defense and wants a new contract
Houston has become the island of misfit toys.
Now the Rockets need at least 2 knockdown catch and shoot guys. They’re strong and physical, but can they hit the open 3 off penetration? Doesn’t seem like it with this bunch.
That was the first thing that came to mind……the Mozgov contract….Lakers lost DLo to fix that
This sign and trade crap is way out of hand now. Teams are trading assets for nothing at all. Silver get this under control
Rocket got fleeced…