Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Warriors Reportedly Have Interest In Victor Oladipo

March 8th, 2021 at 9:58am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors have interest in acquiring Rockets guard Victor Oladipo, league sources tell Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer.

Houston just acquired Oladipo in January in the four-team trade that sent James Harden to Brooklyn, but with the Rockets near the bottom of the NBA’s standings and Oladipo set to reach unrestricted free agency this summer, there has been plenty of speculation he could be on the move again before the March 25 trade deadline.

As O’Connor explains, the Warriors’ interest in Oladipo suggests the team would like to add another ball-handler to take some of the pressure off of Stephen Curry. A secondary ball-handler on the wing could play a role similar to the one that Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala played on Golden State’s title teams, O’Connor notes.

It’s not clear what Golden State would be willing to give up in an offer for Oladipo. Rookie center James Wiseman and the Timberwolves’ 2021 first-round pick (top-three protected) are the Warriors’ top trade assets, but it’s probably safe to assume they wouldn’t put Wiseman on the table for a UFA-to-be like Oladipo, who still hasn’t captured his All-Star form since returning from a quad tendon injury a year ago. As O’Connor observes, Houston likely won’t be able to demand a significant return for the 28-year-old.

If the Warriors did make an offer for Oladipo, either Andrew Wiggins or Kelly Oubre would almost certainly have to be included for salary-matching purposes. The Rockets could probably demand more significant draft assets if they were willing to take on Wiggins’ pricey multiyear contract rather than Oubre’s more affordable expiring deal.

League sources tell The Ringer that Bulls forward Otto Porter – who is on a $28.5MM expiring contract – is another player who has drawn some interest from the Warriors. He’d be a more realistic target if he’s bought out, which some executives think could happen, O’Connor says.

Several 10-Day Contracts Expire; Multiple Teams Have Roster Spots To Fill

March 8th, 2021 at 8:47am CST by Luke Adams

All seven of the 10-day contracts that were signed during the final week of February have now expired. As our 10-day tracker shows, that list included three Nets deals (Tyler Cook, Iman Shumpert, and Andre Roberson), along with contracts signed by the Pelicans (Sindarius Thornwell), Raptors (Donta Hall), Lakers (Damian Jones), and Kings (Norvel Pelle).

None of those players have been re-signed to a second 10-day deal so far, but that comes as no surprise. The five teams that had players on 10-day contracts won’t begin their second-half schedules until Thursday at the earliest (Friday for the Lakers), so it doesn’t make sense to sign someone to a 10-day contract now and waste the first few days of the deal.

That doesn’t mean that all the players listed above will get a second 10-day stint with their respective teams later this week, but some of them seem like good bets to stick around a little longer. Jones, for instance, looked good during his 10 days as a Laker, putting up eight points in eight minutes in his first appearance and earning a start in Sacramento last Wednesday.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that the Lakers and Pelicans are now carrying 13 players on standard contracts, while the Nets are carrying just 12. The NBA requires teams to have a minimum of 14 players under contract (not counting two-ways), but clubs are permitted to dip below that minimum for two weeks at a time.

So even if those three clubs decide not to bring back the same players on 10-day contracts, they’ll have to add a player (two players in Brooklyn’s case, but one will be Blake Griffin) at some point during the next couple weeks.

The Jazz are also in this boat, but will have to add a player even sooner. They dipped to 13 players on standard contracts when they waived Shaquille Harrison on February 24, so we can probably expect them to sign a player to a 10-day deal before the second-half schedule gets underway this week.

The Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, Rockets, Clippers, Bucks, Timberwolves, Suns, Trail Blazers, Kings, Spurs, and Raptors also have openings on their 15-man rosters, but aren’t under any pressure to fill them in the near future, since they’re all at the 14-player minimum.

Most teams with open roster spots will fill them before the end of the regular season, but for the time being, it makes sense for those teams to either hold them open or fill them with players on 10-day deals in order to maximize their roster flexibility for the March 25 trade deadline.

Silas Trying To Remain Upbeat During Losing Streak

March 7th, 2021 at 1:40pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Rockets head coach Stephen Silas is trying to maintain a rosy outlook despite Houston’s recent 13-game losing streak, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.

Aggregation Restriction Lifted For Players In James Harden Trade

March 7th, 2021 at 9:01am CST by Arthur Hill

The trade aggregation restriction has expired for the seven players who were involved in this season’s most significant deal, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. That means everyone who was part of the four-team swap that sent James Harden to the Nets in January can now be combined with other salaries in another trade.

While that may not matter much to the other three teams involved, it’s significant for the Rockets, particularly involving Victor Oladipo, who has an expiring $21MM contract. Oladipo has remained a productive scorer in Houston, averaging 19.9 PPG in 15 games, but he’s shooting just 38.7% from the field and 31.3% from three-point range.

The rebuilding Rockets will have to decide whether they want to make a long-term investment in Oladipo, who will turn 29 before the season ends and is still sitting out one-half of back-to-back sets due to health concerns. He declined a two-year, $45MM extension offer from Houston shortly after the trade, the largest the Rockets could offer at the time, but the team admits that was just a way to show he was wanted. Oladipo will seek a longer deal once free agency arrives.

If Houston decides not to make that investment, its best option is to trade him before the March 25 deadline. The Knicks would be among the teams with interest, according to a report this week.

Owning the league’s third-worst record after 13 straight losses, the Rockets are expected to be among the league’s most active sellers heading into the deadline. They will also be able to aggregate the $9.6MM contract for Dante Exum and the $1.78MM deal for Rodions Kurucs, as both were acquired in the Harden deal.

In addition to Harden, the other players in the trade – who can now be aggregated – were Pacers guard Caris LeVert and Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen and forward Taurean Prince.

Eastern Rumors: Beal, Sixers, Tucker, Heat, Ujiri

March 5th, 2021 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

Much to the chagrin of potential suitors, Wizards star Bradley Beal remains unavailable in trade discussions, with one rival executive who has been repeatedly rebuffed suggesting to Tom Haberstroh of TrueHoop that he has essentially given up the chase for the time being.

“In terms of franchise loyalty, I think Beal is in the same category as Steph (Curry) and Dame (Lillard) right now,” that exec said, referring to two other All-Star guards who have spent their entire careers with a single franchise.

In fact, Beal and Lillard have bonded over their unwillingness to leave the teams that drafted them in search of a club that could provide them an easier path to a championship, according to Jason Quick and Fred Katz of The Athletic. Beal spoke to Lillard in 2019 about the Trail Blazers star’s commitment to Portland before signing his own extension with the Wizards.

“I know how he feels because I get that all the time: ‘You should go here; you should go there …’ from all kinds of different people, and I know he gets it too,” Lillard said of Beal. “We’ve had that conversation. … He has the same feeling about it as I have: I just don’t want to go elsewhere. This is our ninth year. We’ve been so invested in this to where it’s like, this is what it is. This is where I want to get it done. And I’m sure he feels that same way.”

Haberstroh’s latest story at TrueHoop features several more items of interest and is worth checking out in full if you’re a subscriber. Here are some highlights from around the Eastern Conference:

Top Sixers executive Daryl Morey is widely expected to be active at the trade deadline, with several rival execs believing that Rockets forward P.J. Tucker will ultimately land in Philadelphia, says Haberstroh.
On the other hand, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is considered less likely to make a big splash at the deadline. “That’s not Danny’s style,” one Eastern Conference general manager said.
Haberstroh suggests John Wall and Kyle Lowry could be among the Heat‘s targets if the club decides to pursue a major deadline move.
Haberstroh’s sources view Masai Ujiri‘s ongoing lack of contract extension with the Raptors as a “notable non-event” and wonder if his actions at the trade deadline will provide a hint of his future plans. Ujiri’s contract with Toronto expires this offseason.

Rockets Will Retire Harden's Jersey

March 3rd, 2021 at 10:05pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Nets guard James Harden will have his No. 13 jersey retired by his former team, the Rockets, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. In a 132-114 victory tonight, Harden recorded a triple-double in his first game against his Houston since being traded earlier this season. The loss marks Houston’s 13th straight.

David Nwaba To Undergo Wrist Surgery, Out 6 Weeks

March 3rd, 2021 at 5:13pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Rockets wing David Nwaba is set to undergo wrist surgery and will miss a minimum of six weeks of game action, head coach Stephen Silas announced today (link via Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle).

Nwaba strained his wrist while dunking in a lopsided 133-84 loss to the Grizzlies this past Sunday.

The absence of Nwaba is yet another blow to the reeling Rockets, losers of a league-worst 12 games in a row. Nwaba will join starting center Christian Wood and reserve guard Dante Exum as the third Rockets player to be currently sidelined with a long-term injury.

In 28 games for the Rockets, Nwaba has proved a valuable role-playing contributor. The 28-year-old swingman, an athletic defender out of California Polytechnic State University, is averaging 9.4 PPG (a career high) and 3.7 RPG.

Morey May Have Anticipated Harden's Trade Request When He Departed Rockets

March 3rd, 2021 at 2:26pm CST by Luke Adams

Multiple sources within the Rockets organization believe that former general manager Daryl Morey decided to leave the team last fall in part because he expected James Harden would want out, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN. According to MacMahon’s sources, Morey had expressed reservations last summer about his ability to “keep James happy” without the assets necessary to keep upgrading the roster.

Nets Notes: Harden, Claxton, Draft Picks

March 2nd, 2021 at 1:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

James Harden‘s time in Houston may have ended badly, but his adjustment to Brooklyn has been nearly perfect, writes Mark Medina of USA Today. The Nets have climbed to second place in the East behind a string of dominant performances from Harden, who posted his seventh triple-double since the trade in Tuesday’s win at San Antonio.

Injuries have prevented Brooklyn from fully unveiling its Big Three, but Medina points out that Harden has taken on a larger workload whenever Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving hasn’t been available. He averages 20.4 points per game when all three stars play together. That number rises to 25.5 PPG with Irving but not Durant, and 33.0 with Durant but not Irving. Harden scored 31.0 PPG in the three games that his fellow stars both sat out.

“He literally can do almost everything there is to do out there, and he’s been a great leader for us,” coach Steve Nash said. “He can control the game. He is a very smart defender. I think he’s been outstanding as far as keeping his team on track — leading, talking things out, communicating. His passion for the game and willingness and want to win have been fantastic.”

There’s more from Brooklyn:

Wednesday will mark Harden’s first return to Houston since the trade, notes Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Even though he forced the Rockets to deal him after they ignored his off-season trade request, Harden says the fans showed him “mad love” and he’s looking forward to playing in front of them again. “It’s always home and I feel like I’m still a part of everything and the struggles and everything they go through,” Harden said. “I’m excited to go back there and see the familiar faces, see my family and play a game.”
Since returning from injury last week, Nicolas Claxton has developed into an effective lob partner for Harden, writes Tom Dowd of NBA.com. The second-year center, who missed 32 games with right knee tendinopathy, had a career-high 17 points Tuesday, many of them coming on assists from Harden. “Slowly but surely I’m figuring out the spots that James wants me to be in. It’s only the fourth game,” Claxton said. “I’ve still got a long way to go and just figuring out where I need to be. I’m just running. I’m just playing hard. When you play hard, the game is gonna reward you, and I feel like that’s what happened tonight.”
Even though they parted with a ton of future picks to acquire Harden, this year’s draft doesn’t look bad for the Nets, according to a NetsDaily story. In addition to its first-round selection, Brooklyn has second-rounders from the Suns and Hawks and could also receive the Pacers’ second-rounder (45-60 protected).

Oladipo Discusses Extension Offer; Porter Thriving In G League

March 2nd, 2021 at 11:59am CST by Luke Adams

Word broke over the weekend that Victor Oladipo had turned down a contract extension offer from the Rockets, but the two-time All-Star actually passed on that offer a while ago, he confirmed on Monday. As Oladipo explained, the proposal was just a formality, since the team understood he wouldn’t sign it.

“It was more along the lines, ‘We know you’re not going to accept it, but we still want you to understand we want you here,'” Oladipo said of the Rockets’ offer. “… It was put in front of me or given to me to show me that they want me to be here. I didn’t get a chance to say yes or no. They already knew I wasn’t going to accept it anyway.”

Oladipo’s decision to decline the offer doesn’t necessarily mean that he has no interest in remaining with the Rockets long-term — it’s more about his desire to reach the open market this summer as a free agent. He had previously turned down a more lucrative offer from Indiana for the same reason.

Before he makes his debut for the Rockets, recently-acquired guard Kevin Porter is getting back up to speed in the G League, and his stint with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers is going well so far. Porter was officially named the NBAGL Player of the Week on Tuesday after averaging 27.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists, and 2.0 steals in his past four games.