- 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.
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).
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.
It’s time for the Rockets to sell off assets and acquire more draft picks, Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer argues. Victor Oladipo, who reportedly rejected a two-year extension, is the team’s biggest trade chip and P.J. Tucker is the most likely player to be dealt. Eric Gordon could also be moved if a contender is willing to take on his contract.
Rockets guard Victor Oladipo has turned down a two-year, $45.2MM contract extension from the franchise, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Due to extend-and-trade restrictions, that two-year offer is the most lucrative deal the Rockets could give to Oladipo prior to the offseason, and the fact that he turned it down is unsurprising — before he was dealt to Houston, the 28-year-old reportedly declined an extension offer from the Pacers that would have started at $25MM.
Oladipo, who has long expressed a preference to reach free agency, is seeking a longer-term contract, according to Wojnarowski. Houston will need to decide whether to keep him past the March 25 trade deadline.
Oladipo started the season with the Pacers and was dealt to Houston in January as part of the multi-team trade featuring James Harden. He’s averaged 18.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 13 games with the Rockets this season, shooting 39% from the floor and 29.5% from deep in those contests.
As Wojnarowski notes, the Heat and Knicks are among the teams who have expressed interest in Oladipo. Both teams would have the cap space to sign the two-time All-Star outright in free agency.
Tonight’s game between the Bulls and Raptors has been postponed, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The decision was made because Toronto doesn’t have the league minimum of eight players available due to positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing (Twitter link).
The Raptors are dealing with a virus outbreak that affected Pascal Siakam and most of their coaching staff for Friday’s game. At least one coach reportedly tested positive, while the rest are in quarantine. Siakam, who reportedly returned an inconclusive rapid test on Friday, is expected to be out of action through the All-Star break, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Toronto has two games remaining before the break, and both may be in jeopardy considering the league’s policy of being cautious amid coronavirus outbreaks. The Raptors are scheduled to host the Pistons on Tuesday and the Celtics on Thursday.
The Bulls shouldn’t be affected, as they just arrived in Florida on Saturday, tweets K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports. They will return home for Monday’s game against the Nuggets. It remains to be seen if today’s news will have any effect on the Rockets, Toronto’s opponent on Friday, who are scheduled to face the Grizzlies tonight.
The Raptors had been one of just four teams without a postponement during the first half of the season, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The only remaining unaffected teams are the Lakers, Clippers, and Nets.
Tonight’s game is the 34th to be postponed since the season began, and the 30th caused by the virus. Three others were due to harsh weather in Texas last week and one was a scheduling choice to accommodate a makeup game. You can see the complete list here.
The Rockets may continue to alternate guards John Wall and Victor Oladipo during back-to-back games, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. There are injury concerns with both players, and coach Stephen Silas indicated he plans to be careful with them.
“We’re still kind of working it out,” he said. “Victor obviously is coming off the foot injury. John participated today in the limited practice that we had, but he’s getting treatment on the foot that got landed on (Friday) night (against Toronto). We’ve had some early conversations because haven’t cemented what the plan is going to be. I wouldn’t say that both will play both (games).”
Back-to-backs will be a greater concern in the second half of the schedule, as Houston has 10 of them in its 38 games. Assuming both players remain with the team past the March 25 trade deadline, that could pose a major obstacle to turning the season around.
“It hasn’t been great in the first half not having one of those guys on the basketball side,” Silas said, “but the long-term prognosis, the health, has to be first and foremost and we have to figure out the basketball part around that.”
There’s more NBA news from Texas:
- The Rockets are trying not to focus on the 10-game losing streak that has dropped them nearly to the bottom of the Western Conference, Feigen adds in a separate story. Today’s practice featured a long video session that concentrated on correcting mistakes. “We just got to keep getting better, man,” Oladipo said. “Stay optimistic and positive. I know it’s tough right now, obviously. It’s easy to kind of go the negative route. That’s not going to solve anything. In fact, it’ll make things worse. It’s just us. We’ve just got to figure out a way to win every night.”
- The Spurs are missing five players due to health and safety protocols, and coach Gregg Popovich doesn’t expect to have a full team again until after the All-Star break, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express News. Popovich said the five players — Derrick White, Keldon Johnson, Rudy Gay, Devin Vassell and Quinndary Weatherspoon — won’t all return at the same time.
- Kristaps Porzingis has been cleared to return for the Mavericks tonight, tweets Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. “I don’t see him going into the high 30s or anything like that, but we have not talked about any specific minutes limits,” coach Rick Carlisle said of Porzingis, who missed the past three games with back tightness. “Everything’s very positive at this moment.”
The Nets, Jazz, and Nuggets are among the teams that have “sniffed around” on Rockets forward P.J. Tucker, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
Tucker has been viewed as a strong potential trade candidate since Houston moved James Harden, with a number of other teams mentioned as potential suitors in recent weeks, including the Lakers, Bucks, Heat, and Timberwolves. His three-and-D skill set makes him an easy piece to plug into just about any lineup, and his $8MM expiring contract wouldn’t be hard to salary-matching in a trade.
While the Rockets won’t just give Tucker away, Iko suggests that the 35-year-old is more of a “ceiling-raiser” than a “floor-raiser,” and Houston is in need of the latter kind of player. The Rockets’ asking price for Tucker is unclear — multiple reports last month indicated that they’d be seeking three second-round picks, but a more recent report said they’d prefer to acquire a player who can contribute immediately.
Here’s more out of Houston:
- Christian Wood has been hoping to return from his right ankle injury before the All-Star break, but the Rockets want to hold him out until the second half, according to Iko. Houston prefers to play it safe with one of its cornerstone players, hoping to reduce the risk of that ankle becoming a recurring issue for Wood, Iko explains.
- With Wood on the shelf and DeMarcus Cousins no longer on the roster, the Rockets have been reverting to some small-ball lineups, which doesn’t thrill point guard John Wall. “Small ball, I don’t really like it to be honest, because I need a big that can roll, finish,” Wall said, per Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (Twitter link). “It’s just difficult. I’m a person that likes to pass. I’m used to finding my bigs on the roll.”
- The Rockets’ nine-game losing streak has moved them into fourth place in the NBA’s reverse standings, which will be worth watching all season long. The Thunder have the ability to swap first-round picks with the Rockets, but only if Houston’s pick doesn’t land in the top four.
DeMarcus Cousins, who was released by the Rockets earlier this week, is one of several additions the Heat are considering for their frontcourt, a source tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Cousins is expected to clear waivers at 5 pm Eastern Time on Thursday, making him a free agent.
Jackson’s source identifies four other players Miami is targeting if they become available. That group includes Spurs forward Rudy Gay, Kings forward Nemanja Bjelica and Rockets forward P.J. Tucker, The Heat are also monitoring Pistons forward Blake Griffin, but they wouldn’t take on his contract, which includes a $38.96MM player option for next season, and will only try to sign him if he is released.
Jackson adds that Miami’s front office is doing “due diligence” on all those players and it’s not clear who the preference is.
The most intriguing option may be Cousins, a six-time All-Star who tried to revive his career in Houston after back-to-back Achilles and ACL injuries. He averaged 9.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 25 games for the Rockets and was most effective as a backup. His lack of mobility became a more pronounced issue when he was moved into the starting lineup after an injury to Christian Wood.
Miami tried to sign Cousins in 2019, Jackson notes, but he opted for the Lakers. Cousins is also expected to consider the Raptors, Celtics and Warriors, according to Jackson.
Jackson believes Gay would be used in the same role as Jae Crowder, who left Miami to sign with the Suns in November. It’s not certain that San Antonio wants to part with Gay, who makes $14.5MM on an expiring contract, but Jackson notes that an offer of Kelly Olynyk would work under the cap, as would the combination of Avery Bradley and Meyers Leonard, who is out for the season after shoulder surgery.
The DeMarcus Cousins era in Houston formally came to an end on Tuesday, as the Rockets announced they’ve officially waived the veteran center.
Explaining the decision to release Cousins, general manager Rafael Stone said they’ve been “talking to him about this for a little while” and decided the time was right to allow him to pursue a new opportunity (link via Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston). Stone added that Houston opted to guarantee Cousins’ full-season salary before parting ways with him because the team appreciated his work ethic and felt “that was the best way we could think of to say thank you.”
For John Wall, who played college ball with Cousins at Kentucky, teaming up with the veteran center in the NBA was something he’d looked forward to for a while, and he expressed some disappointment that it didn’t work out as they might’ve hoped.
“Getting to play with him again was what we always wanted in the NBA,” Wall said, per Berman. “It didn’t last as long as we thought it would. The decision that was made is out of my hands. It’s up to the front office, whatever they feel is best for our team going forward.
“I think with his time here he did a hell of a job,” Wall continued. “I think he showed he could come back and play in this league, coming off of injuries. Hopefully he can get another job somewhere very soon…getting back to where he wants to be in this league.”
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- Victor Oladipo (right foot strain) suffered a slight setback when he stepped on teammate Rodions Kurucs‘ foot during a practice, preventing him from returning to action on Monday, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Head coach Stephen Silas said he remains hopeful that Oladipo will be back “sooner rather than later.”
- Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, who reported last month that the Rockets are looking to hire an executive in an assistant general manager-type role, identifies former Timberwolves executive Noah Croom as a candidate being considered for that position.
- Kevin Porter has yet to make his Rockets debut since being acquired from Cleveland a month ago, but his new team has a vision for how it will use him, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. The Rockets, who plan to have Porter finish the G League season at the Walt Disney World bubble, expect to have him eventually assume a point guard role on the second unit, per Iko.