Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rockets Rumors: Butler, Rivers, Faried, FA Targets

June 27th, 2019 at 9:55am CST by Luke Adams

While the odds appear to be stacked against them, the Rockets are “extremely confident” in their ability to acquire Jimmy Butler in a sign-and-trade deal, Kelly Iko of The Athletic writes in his preview of Houston’s free agency. According to Iko, team sources not only believe that the Rockets have a good shot at Butler, but also feel as if they’re in the lead for him.

In order for the Rockets to sign-and-trade for Butler, the Sixers would have to be on board, which is a big “if.” But Sam Amick of The Athletic hears from a source that Philadelphia would likely be open to cooperating if necessary, since the team has a “strong desire” to avoid losing Butler for nothing.

As ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst pointed out on a recent podcast, in order for the Sixers to believe that losing Butler for nothing is a real possibility, the swingman would likely need to have a potential alternate landing spot besides Houston. That alternate landing spot could be Los Angeles, as Amick also reports that the possibility of Butler and Kawhi Leonard both joining the Clippers is a scenario that’s viewed by sources as “increasingly possible.”

The Clippers would have to move Danilo Gallinari‘s salary to clear space for a second max player, but there are strong indications that Leonard would welcome Butler as a running mate, according to Amick. That echoes a Wednesday report from Ian Begley of SNY.tv.

As we wait to see what Butler’s future holds, here are some more Rockets-related notes and rumors:

The Rockets are targeting mid-level players whom teams might not be able to pay, according to Iko. Houston also hopes that the opportunity to compete for a title might convince certain free agents to take a little less than they might be able to earn elsewhere. The team refers to these as “contender contracts” and points to P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute as past examples, says Iko.
Team sources tell Iko that the Rockets have a list of about 30-to-50 potential targets. GM Daryl Morey has spoken to James Harden and Chris Paul via FaceTime about many of those players, Iko adds.
It’s 50/50 that Austin Rivers will return to Houston, according to Iko, who says team sources are resigned to the fact that it will be difficult to bring back Rivers and Kenneth Faried.
Trevor Ariza, who previously played for the Rockets, and Houston native DeAndre Jordan are potential targets for the club, Iko writes. According to Iko, there’s still “love” for Ariza within the Rockets’ organization, and team sources believe Jordan would be interested in playing for his hometown team — especially if Clint Capela gets dealt.

Charania’s Latest: CP3, Klay, Harris, RHJ, Randle, More

June 26th, 2019 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

League sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic that Chris Paul never demanded a trade from the Rockets, but suggested at season’s end that he’d understand if the club decided to go in a different direction. According to Charania, Houston told Paul it remained committed to him, and he has reciprocated that commitment.

While Paul and James Harden haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, Charania hears that the two Rockets guards have been communicating since the season ended and had a positive conversation on Father’s Day.

Even if the Rockets wanted to move Paul, there would likely be no market for him, as the Rockets discovered when they quietly gauged his value in recent weeks, Charania writes.

Charania’s latest round-up at The Athletic includes several other noteworthy tidbits on 2019’s upcoming free agent period, so let’s pass along some highlights…

The Warriors and Klay Thompson will meet in Los Angeles at the start of free agency, per Charania. While Charania – like ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski – has heard that Thompson could speak to the Clippers if talks with Golden State break down, the Warriors and Thompson’s camp expect a quick agreement if the team puts a five-year, maximum-salary offer on the table.
After Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer named the Clippers as a possible suitor for Tobias Harris, Charania says the same thing, noting that the two sides still have a good relationship. Charania also adds the Pelicans – who now have significant cap room – to the list of teams expected to express interest in Harris.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who didn’t receive a qualifying offer from Brooklyn, is expected to draw interest from the Suns, Timberwolves, and Rockets as an unrestricted free agent, reports Charania.
The Bulls, Knicks, and Nets are viewed as potential suitors for Julius Randle, sources tell Charania.
Teams in need of some help at the point guard spot – including the Suns, Bulls, Wizards, and Kings – have shown interest in Cory Joseph, says Charania.
If the Knicks miss out on their top free agent targets, they’ll plan on trying to sign “high-level rotation players” to one- or two-year deals, according to Charania, who suggests that Celtics RFA-to-be Terry Rozier may be one target.

Latest On Rockets’ Pursuit Of Jimmy Butler

June 26th, 2019 at 2:40pm CST by Luke Adams

With the Rockets hoping to sell Jimmy Butler and the Sixers on agreeing to a sign-and-trade scenario that would send the standout wing to Houston, the Rockets are offering Clint Capela, Eric Gordon, and P.J. Tucker to teams with cap room, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

As Wojnarowski explains, Capela, Gordon, and Tucker are being offered individually to potential trade partners, as the Rockets search for the best first-round pick they can get for one of those players. The idea would be to redirect that pick to Philadelphia in a potential sign-and-trade for Butler, Woj adds.

Despite the Rockets’ efforts, the Sixers have privately been expressing confidence that they’ll be able to re-sign both Butler and Tobias Harris in free agency, Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter). Philadelphia holds both players’ Bird rights, giving the club the ability to offer more years and more money to each player than any other team will be able to.

While losing Butler won’t be the Sixers’ first choice, there’s reason to believe they might be amenable to working out a sign-and-trade if he decides to leave. If the Rockets were to offer, say, Gordon or Tucker along with a first-round pick, the Sixers could acquire a potential starter on an affordable contract along with another asset for a future deal, and would still have cap room left over. That might be preferable to losing Butler for nothing, especially if the 76ers don’t have other specific free agent targets lined up for their cap space.

The Rockets will face many obstacles en route to acquiring Butler though. They’d almost certainly to have to bring in a third team in order to meet salary-matching requirements, and would risk losing all three of Capela, Gordon, and Tucker to make a deal happen (due in part to a subsequent hard cap).

Tyus Jones, Danuel House To Become RFAs

June 26th, 2019 at 12:25pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves have issued a qualifying offer to point guard Tyus Jones, ensuring that he’ll be a restricted free agent when the new league year begins on Sunday, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Jones’ qualifying offer is worth $3,573,205.

Jones, 23, played an increased role for the Wolves in 2018/19, averaging 6.9 PPG and 4.8 APG in 68 games (22.9 MPG). While his qualifying offer will make him a restricted free agent, it’s not clear whether he’s in Minnesota’s long-term plans under new head of basketball operations Gersson Rosas. The club’s point guard position is in flux this offseason, with Jeff Teague entering the final year of his contract and Jones and Derrick Rose both hitting the open market.

Meanwhile, Danuel House has yet to receive his own qualifying offer from the Rockets, but Houston will make that official in the coming days, making him an RFA, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. House’s QO is worth a projected $1,876,700.

House emerged as a reliable rotation piece for the Rockets last season, averaging 9.4 PPG and 3.6 RPG with a .468/.416/.789 shooting line in 39 games (25.1 MPG). After the 26-year-old initially joined the team on a two-way deal, Houston attempted to sign him to a longer-term deal, but he resisted, forcing a one-year agreement.

House and his camp didn’t want to be locked into a multiyear minimum-salary contract, preferring to try their luck in restricted free agency this summer. Now they’ll get that opportunity.

Rockets Eyeing Danny Green, Jeremy Lamb, Others

June 26th, 2019 at 8:43am CST by Luke Adams

While Jimmy Butler is the Rockets‘ “dream addition,” the team has its eye on a number of other potential targets in free agency, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic.

A source with knowledge of the Rockets’ plans tells Amick that Danny Green, Jeremy Lamb, Al-Farouq Aminu, DeAndre Jordan, Brook Lopez, and Kevon Looney are among the veteran free agents that have piqued the club’s interest.

General manager Daryl Morey has indicated that the Rockets would like to add a third star to complement James Harden and Chris Paul, whose supposedly “unsalvageable” relationship was referred to as “fake news” by P.J. Tucker within Amick’s story. Multiple reports have identified Butler as the team’s most likely target.

However, there are a number of roadblocks standing in the way of acquiring Butler — the Sixers would have to agree to a sign-and-trade, a third team would likely have to be involved due to Base Year Compensation rules, and Houston’s ability to fill out a roster around Harden, Paul, and Butler would be extremely limited due to a hard cap. And, of course, Butler would have to want to go to Houston badly enough to try to make it all work.

If the Rockets strike out on Butler, they’re more likely to simply operate as an over-the-cap team and make use of the mid-level exception to add another rotation player to their core. Depending on the club’s proximity to the tax apron, that mid-level could either be worth about $9.25MM (full) or $5.71MM (taxpayer).

That’s where the free agents listed above would come in to play, though even some of those guys – including Green, Lamb, and Lopez – may be out of reach with the mid-level (especially the taxpayer MLE) unless they’re willing to take a bit of a discount. All the players named by Amick will be unrestricted free agents this summer.

Rockets To Pursue Sign-And-Trade For Jimmy Butler

June 25th, 2019 at 5:44pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Rockets‘ top priority this offseason will be to recruit Jimmy Butler via sign-and-trade to Houston, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com.

The Rockets are unlikely to carve out enough cap room to sign Butler outright, so a sign-and-trade is the most feasible option to bring the four-time All-Star to Texas, as Wojnarowski details. In that scenario, Philadelphia would receive players back as opposed to losing Butler for nothing had he signed with a team with cap room.

Clint Capela and Eric Gordon would likely leave Houston in a potential sign-and-trade with a third team possibly getting involved due to Base Year Compensation rules, Woj writes. Of the two, Gordon would be the better fit for Philadelphia, particularly if the team believes J.J. Redick may depart in free agency.

We recently detailed some of the roadblocks standing in the way of a potential Butler acquisition by the Rockets after The Houston Chronicle first reported that the team would pursue the standout swingman.

[RELATED: Why NBA Sign-And-Trades Are Rare]

Butler could receive a four-year, max deal from Houston worth roughly $141MM. The Sixers plan to be aggressive in their attempts to retain Butler and the franchise could offer him the full five-year, $190M max deal at the start of free agency to trump any rival offer.

Houston previously pursued Butler when he was in Minnesota. The franchise reportedly offered four first-round picks in exchange for the wing.

Giannis Antetokounmpo Named League MVP

June 24th, 2019 at 10:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was named the league’s Most Valuable Player on Monday. NBA commissioner Adam Silver made the announcement at the league’s annual awards show.

Last year’s winner, Rockets guard James Harden, and Thunder forward Paul George were the other finalists.

Antetokounmpo’s overall excellence while leading the Bucks to a 60-22 record was enough to beat out Harden’s big scoring numbers. The Greek Freak averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.5 blocks. Harden averaged 36.1 points, the highest total since Michael Jordan averaged 37.1 during the 1986/87 season.

The voting wasn’t as close as expected. Antetokounmpo received 78 of the 101 first-place votes and was second on the other 23 ballots. Harden had the reverse, with 23 first-place votes and 78 second-place selections.

The Bucks dominated the awards ceremony, as Mike Budenholzer won Coach of the Year and GM Jon Horst was named Executive of the Year.

Harden was Hoops Rumors’ consensus choice.

Links to the other major awards handed out on Monday can be found below:

Chris Paul: “I Never Asked For A Trade”

June 24th, 2019 at 11:23am CST by Luke Adams

Appearing at a youth basketball clinic in Los Angeles on Sunday, Rockets point guard Chris Paul addressed last week’s report on his supposed trade request, suggesting that it didn’t happen.

“I never asked for a trade,” Paul said, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “I never demanded a trade.”

Last week’s report from Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports suggested that the relationship between Paul and fellow Rockets guard James Harden was “unsalvageable” and that the two stars didn’t want to play together anymore. Goodwill’s report came on the heels of a separate story from Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com, who didn’t report that Paul had requested a trade, but outlined many of the same details Goodwill did when it came to the discord in Houston.

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey quickly shot down the idea that Paul had requested a trade and said that CP3 will be on the roster next season, a sentiment the veteran echoed on Sunday, according to Feigen.

“I’ll be in Houston,” Paul said. “I’m happy about that. I’m very happy about that. I’m good.”

Feigen notes that Paul wasn’t very specific when asked on Sunday if there are issues to be worked out between him and Harden, and it seems clear that the two guards didn’t always see eye-to-eye during the 2018/19 season and postseason.

Still, with three years and more than $124MM left on Paul’s contract, it will be difficult for Houston to find a taker for him this offseason even if CP3 wants out. As such, it makes sense for both sides to prepare to move forward together.

Rockets, William McDowell-White Agree To Deal

June 21st, 2019 at 11:19am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have reached an agreement with William McDowell-White, according to Olgun Uluc of FOX Sports Australia, who reports (via Twitter) that the undrafted combo guard will sign an Exhibit 10 contract with Houston.

McDowell-White was draft-eligible this season after spending the last several years playing for teams in Australia and Germany. Having began his career with the Sydney Kings, he spent a season and a half with German club Brose Bamberg, leaving the team earlier this year to prepare for the 2019 draft.

Besides McDowell-White, the Rockets have also lined up deals with UCLA center Moses Brown and Campbell guard Chris Clemons to play for their Summer League squad, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.

It’s possible that the club’s agreement with Clemons will be for more than the Summer League. Both Alykhan Bijani of The Athletic and Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (Twitter links) classify that deal as an undrafted free agent signing, which may include an invite to training camp.

The Rockets had a quiet night on Thursday, as they were one of the only teams that didn’t have a draft pick in either the first or second round.

Western Notes: Rockets, No. 4, Davis, Holiday

June 20th, 2019 at 2:49pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Houston intends to aggressively pursue Jimmy Butler in free agency and Kelly Iko of The Athletic hears that the Rockets will be just as determined to land Butler now as they were in prior to Minnesota dealing him to the Sixers. GM Daryl Morey reportedly offered four first-round picks in exchange for Butler during the season.

It’s no secret that the Rockets are looking to shake up their roster this offseason. They continue to discuss trades involving Clint Capela, and Iko hears that they’ve discussed sending him to the Pelicans for the No. 4 overall pick. In that scenario, Houston would look to insert that pick into a package in order to land another player.

Here’s more from Houston and rest of the Western Conference:

The Rockets had interested in trading for Anthony Davis and reached out to the Pelicans prior to New Orleans making the deal with the Lakers. Houston was aware that it wasn’t high on Davis’ preferences and that a trade was not likely to happen.
The Lakers could have asked Davis if he’d waive his trade bonus of roughly $4.1MM in order to make salary-matching easier, but they never broached it during negotiations, league sources tell Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. Los Angeles is still attempting to maximize its cap room for an additional star after agreeing to the Davis deal.
Several NBA executives are skeptical that the Lakers can build a title-winning team around Davis and LeBron James after the haul they just gave up, Beck relays in the same piece. “[The] Lakers overpaid by a significant margin, given the conditions,” one executive said, adding, “Never let your GM be in a spot where he needs to make a trade to save his job.”
The Suns are not interested in Aaron Holiday, Phoenix-based radio host John Gambadoro tweets. J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star identified the Suns as one of a handful of teams that has interest in acquiring the Pacers point guard, mentioning the Timberwolves, Bulls, and Hawks as well.