Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Harden, Cauley-Stein, Richardson, Popovich

December 25th, 2020 at 8:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

NBA commissioner Adam Silver explained during an ESPN appearance that Rockets star James Harden didn’t face a suspension for violating COVID-19 protocols because the NBA didn’t want to set that harsh a precedent to start the season, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Harden was fined $50K after an NBA investigation found that Harden violated protocols when he attended an indoor party of 15 or more people.

“The precedent is that discipline gets ratcheted up,” Silver said. “It’s Christmas. It was a first offense.”

Silver said, adding “in a way he got lucky.” If the Rockets’ first game had not been postponed, Harden would have been docked one game’s pay, Feigen adds. Harden is expected to make his season debut on Saturday.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Mavericks big man Willie Cauley-Stein could see an uptick in minutes as Dwight Powell is eased back into the rotation from an Achilles injury, according to Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. Cauley-Stein played well in a six-minute stint during the team’s opener. Cauley-Stein signed a two-year, $8.2MM contract with a team option at the beginning of the month.
Off-season acquisitions Josh Richardson and James Johnson were identified as two players that would fit well with Mavericks star Luka Doncic, Caplan writes in a separate story. Richardson filled a need for a 3-and-D wing player who could also handle the ball while Johnson provides a measure of toughness.
Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express News details how 71-year-old coach Gregg Popovich is connecting with his youthful Spurs roster.

Rockets Staffer Tests Positive; New Contact Tracing For Gordon, Others

December 25th, 2020 at 2:02pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

DECEMBER 25: The Rockets, who are scheduled to travel to Portland on Friday night for Saturday’s game, are currently on course to have the mandated minimum of eight players available for that contest, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). Houston could have as many as nine players available, Stein adds (via Twitter).

DECEMBER 24: A Rockets staff member has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19. As a result, contact tracing is being conducted for guard Eric Gordon and other Houston personnel, according to Shams Charania of the Athletic (via Twitter).

Meanwhile, Charania adds (Twitter link) that “several” of Gordon’s Rockets teammates – including DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall and possibly others – are facing a week-long quarantine period for a separate possible exposure. As we relayed earlier this week, Jae’Sean Tate and Mason Jones were also sent home along with Cousins and Wall to quarantine under the league’s contact tracing protocol.

Three Rockets players have recently returned positive or inconclusive COVID-19 tests, among them KJ Martin and Ben McLemore. The identity of the third player has not been disclosed, but apparently All-Star guard James Harden remains negative for the coronavirus and will most likely be available for the Rockets’ next game after being fined $50,000 for violating league protocols regarding COVID-19.

What this means for the Rockets’ upcoming game against the Trail Blazers, scheduled for Saturday, has yet to be divulged. The Rockets’ first scheduled game of the season yesterday was postponed when it was determined that, between injuries and coronavirus protocols, the club would not have enough healthy players available.

It appeared that Houston would be able to activate at least eight players on Saturday, even if the rest of the players besides Harden who were unavailable on Wednesday had yet to be cleared. But if Gordon and others are now required to self-isolate, that may no longer be the case.

Harden’s Wish List Now Includes Blazers, Celtics

December 24th, 2020 at 4:58pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Rockets All-Star guard James Harden, the talk of this young 2020/21 season for a variety of reasons, has expanded his wish list of NBA trade destinations to include the Trail Blazers and Celtics, according to Kelly Iko and Sam Amick of the Athletic.

The Nets, Sixers, Heat and Bucks were the four teams Harden has previously identified as preferred landing spots. The Heat have reportedly paused cursory talks surrounding a Harden trade, apparently balking at the Rockets’ asking price. The Bucks are also not expected to pursue Harden.

Finding salaries to match Harden’s in a trade is no small feat. The 31-year-old has two guaranteed years remaining on his current max contract, and holds a $47.4MM player option for the 2022/23 season.

The Trail Blazers, led by All-Star point guard Damian Lillard and talented shooting guard C.J. McCollum, impressed during their run to the 2019 Western Conference Finals. Though he has yet to make an All-Star team, the 29-year-old McCollum could be the kind of high-level scoring target around which Portland could begin build a trade. Last season, with Lillard clearly the focal point of Portland’s offense, McCollum averaged 22.2 PPG, 4.4 APG, 4.2 RPG, 0.8 SPF and 0.6 BPG while posting a shooting line of .451/.379/.757.

The Celtics have appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals for three of the last four seasons. All-Star forward Jayson Tatum is almost certainly untouchable in any Harden deal, but versatile 24-year-old forward Jaylen Brown, who has emerged as a two-way force, might appeal to Houston.

Iko and Amick note that the Rockets have talked with teams that are not on Harden’s list of preferred landing spots. The Nuggets are among this group. Denver has not made star guard Jamal Murray available in trade discussions yet, though the Rockets remain intrigued by second-year forward Michael Porter Jr.

Two New Positive COVID-19 Tests Among Players Since Dec. 16

December 24th, 2020 at 1:17pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s coronavirus testing program has turned up two new confirmed positive tests among players since the last update on December 16, the league and the players’ union announced today.

According to the press release from the NBA and NBPA, 558 players were tested during that time, though some of those players are no longer under contract, as roster limits decreased on Monday from 20 players to 17 for the regular season.

The league and the players’ union don’t specify which players tested positive for COVID-19, but it’s possible both of this week’s affected players are Rockets. The NBA said in a Wednesday press release that three Houston players had returned positive or inconclusive tests. Ben McLemore and KJ Martin are believed to be two of those players, per reports — the third isn’t known.

The NBA and NBPA announced on December 16 that there was one new positive test among 549 players during the previous testing window.

NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots To Start Season

December 24th, 2020 at 12:23pm CST by Luke Adams

Now that the regular season is underway, no NBA team is carrying more than 17 players in total — 15 on standard contracts and two on two-way deals. However, not every team is making use of all 17 roster spots available to them.

Currently, 12 of the league’s 30 teams have at least one open roster spot, either on their regular roster or in their two-way slots.

Those dozen teams have different reasons for not carrying a 15th man on their standard roster. For some clubs, the decision is likely financially motivated, since an open roster spot means not having to pay an extra player.

Some teams may want to maintain the roster flexibility that an open roster provides — it can allow a club to act quickly and decisively in the event of an injury or a two-for-one trade opportunity.

A handful of teams actually can’t add a 15th man at this point, since they’re too close to their hard cap and won’t be able to fit another minimum-salary contract below that hard cap until later in the season.

With the G League season not yet underway, a healthy team may simply decide there’s no point in filling the 15th spot with a developmental player who won’t see any game action. That may also be the reason why some teams haven’t yet filled both their two-way contract slots.

Listed below, with the help of our roster counts breakdown, are the teams that aren’t carrying full rosters.

Teams with an open 15-man roster spot:

Charlotte Hornets
Houston Rockets *
Los Angeles Clippers *
Los Angeles Lakers *
Milwaukee Bucks *
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs
Utah Jazz

Note: An asterisk (*) denotes that the team can’t currently sign a 15th man due to the hard cap.

Teams with an open two-way slot:

Detroit Pistons
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers

James Harden Likely To Be Available On Saturday

December 24th, 2020 at 10:26am CST by Luke Adams

Following James Harden‘s violation of the NBA’s health and safety protocols, the NBA will require the Rockets star to conduct a four-day quarantine that began on Tuesday, as Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports (via Twitter).

Harden must self-isolate through Friday and continue to test negative for the coronavirus in order to receive clearance to resume participating in practices, games, or other team activities, as Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets. He won’t be able to travel with the team but would be eligible to return for Saturday’s game against the Trail Blazers as long as he doesn’t break quarantine or test positive for the virus.

An NBA investigation found that Harden violated the league’s COVID-19 protocols when he attended an indoor party of 15 or more people. Typically, a player who misses a game for violating those protocols would lose 1/72nd of his salary — in Harden’s case, that would be nearly $573K per game.

However, the Rockets/Thunder game on Wednesday was postponed because Houston also had eight other players unavailable for COVID-19 or injury reasons unrelated to Harden. As a result, it appears the 31-year-old may not actually miss any games as a result of his violation and won’t face any league discipline beyond a $50K fine. A player who is fined an amount greater than $50K is allowed to file a grievance.

It remains to be seen how long several other Rockets players will have to remain isolated or how many negative tests they’ll require, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Positive or inconclusive tests for KJ Martin and another unknown player reportedly triggered contact tracing protocols for John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Jae’Sean Tate, and Mason Jones.

The Rockets still have seven other healthy, available players on their roster, so as long as Harden is cleared following his four-day quarantine, the team will have at least the league-mandated minimum of eight players available for Saturday’s game vs. Portland.

Players To Lose 1/81.6th Of Salary For Each Game Missed Due To COVID-19 Protocol Violation

December 24th, 2020 at 8:12am CST by Luke Adams

JANUARY 12: Players who miss games due to COVID-19 protocol violations will actually forfeit 1/81.6th of their salary for 2020/21, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

DECEMBER 24: When an NBA player is suspended, he generally loses 1/145th of his salary for each game he misses. A long-term suspension of 20 games or more forces the player to forfeit 1/110th of his salary per game. The penalty for missing a game this season due to a violation of COVID-19 protocols is even more severe.

According to Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link), the NBA will dock a player 1/72nd of his salary for each game he misses as a result of violating the league’s coronavirus protocols. The number is based on the 72-game season.

This penalty would have applied to James Harden if the Rockets‘ game against the Thunder had been played on Wednesday night, since the NBA determined the former MVP violated health and safety protocols by attending an indoor party of 15 or more people.

However, that opening-night contest was postponed because several other Rockets players were unavailable due to positive or inconclusive tests (or subsequent contact tracing) and the club didn’t have eight healthy players available. Since the game will be rescheduled, if possible, Harden didn’t technically miss it. As such, he was instead hit with a $50K fine by the NBA.

It’s not yet known how many negative coronavirus tests Harden will have to return before he’s cleared by the NBA to play following his COVID-19 protocol violation. If he hasn’t yet received clearance for the Rockets’ game on Saturday in Portland, it would cost him significantly more than $50K — 1/72nd of his $41,254,920 salary works out to $572,895 in lost money for each game he misses due to a protocol violation.

Harden is one of the NBA’s highest-paid players, so even though the 1/72 ratio applies to everyone equally, only a small handful of other stars would lose as much as $573K per game for violating the NBA’s health and safety protocols. A player earning the rookie minimum of $898,310, for instance, would be docked $12,477 for each game missed.

Southwest Notes: Bledsoe, Spurs, Caboclo, Richardson

December 23rd, 2020 at 10:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Though new Pelicans starting point guard Eric Bledsoe faces a tall task in replacing fan favorite guard Jrue Holiday, he still will prove a dependable starter for a New Orleans team with a good chance to at least qualify for a play-in game, as William Guillory of the Athletic details.

“The same role (Holiday) had here, I’m kind of in. But at the same time, I’ve still got to play my game,” Bledsoe said. “(My role is) defense, helping guys get better … trying to be a leader and going out there to help them win games.”

Guillory expects Bledsoe, a two-time All-Defensive Team selection who relies on a killer first step to score, to help lead a supercharged backcourt alongside Lonzo Ball. That tandem scored a combined 34 points on a 10-of-21 shooting from the floor tonight in a 113-99 defeat of the Raptors.

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

Ahead of the Spurs‘ 2020/21 season, John Hollinger of the Athletic previewed the club’s outlook. Hollinger notes that 30-something veterans LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Rudy Gay could control the ball for extended stretches of possessions, though the advanced age and short-term contracts of most of those players are increasingly at odds with the timeline for the team’s younger prospects.
Rockets big man Bruno Caboclo agreed to push back the deadline for his 2020/21 salary to become fully guaranteed to February 27, 2021 (the league-wide deadline), according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). It had previously been scheduled to become guaranteed today.
Now on his third team in three seasons, new Mavericks swingman Josh Richardson will be expected to guard the opposing team’s toughest perimeter players, according to Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News. Richardson has the length and speed to convincingly defend several positions.

Harden Fined $50K For COVID-19 Protocol Violation

December 23rd, 2020 at 6:33pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Rockets All-Star guard James Harden has been fined $50,000 by the NBA due to his violation of the league’s coronavirus-related health and safety protocols, according to a press release. The league will not suspend Harden, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.

Stein adds that the timeline and the number of required negative COVID-19 tests required for Harden to return remain up in the air. Harden has tested negative for the coronavirus over the past three days after a social media video of the eight-time All Star recently attending an indoor party emerged.

Interestingly, Bobby Marks of ESPN adds (via Twitter) that $50K is the maximum price permitted for a fine before an NBA player can file a grievance with the league. The fine will not make much of a dent in Harden’s wallet, as the star guard is set to earn $41.25MM this season.

The Rockets have been the big news story of the day, after the NBA announced it was postponing Houston’s first game, a bout against the Thunder, earlier this afternoon. Harden remains hopeful to be traded from the team he led to the cusp of a Finals appearance in 2018, the same year he was named league MVP.

League Postpones Rockets-Thunder Game

December 23rd, 2020 at 4:32pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

One day into the condensed 2020/21 NBA season, a game has already been postponed due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The NBA has officially postponed the Rockets‘ opening-night game against the Thunder because Houston doesn’t have the mandated minimum of eight players available, the league announced in a press release.

Three Rockets players have returned positive or inconclusive tests for COVID-19, per the NBA’s announcement. KJ Martin and Ben McLemore fall into that group — the third player is unknown.

As we relayed earlier today, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Jae’Sean Tate, and two-way player Mason Jones have been sent home to quarantine as a result of contact tracing protocol.

Additionally, Chris Clemons is unavailable due to a torn Achilles and All-Star Rockets guard James Harden violated health and safety protocols by recently visiting a Houston club. As a result, Houston only has seven players available.

The NBA’s press release notes that Harden has been ruled “unavailable due to a violation of Health and Safety Protocols.” The Rockets and Harden haven’t received clarity from the league on whether this is an official suspension and, if so, what its duration will be, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. The 31-year-old has thus far tested negative for the coronavirus Monday, Tuesday, and today.

[UPDATE: Harden fined $50K for protocol violation]

Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman tweets that the Thunder will now fly back to Oklahoma City. The club will then fly to Charlotte on Friday, ahead of a December 26 game against the Hornets. The status of the Rockets’ next scheduled game in Portland against the Trail Blazers, also on December 26, is now somewhat unclear.