Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2019 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2019/20 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Houston Rockets.
Signings:
- Standard contracts:
- Nene: Two years, $20MM. Second-year non-guaranteed. Minimum base salaries; significant likely incentives. Re-signed using Bird rights.
- Danuel House: Three years, $11.1MM. Re-signed using taxpayer mid-level exception.
- Austin Rivers: Two years, minimum salary. Second-year player option. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
- Ben McLemore: Two years, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($50K; increased to $500K on opening night). Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Tyson Chandler: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Gerald Green: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
- Thabo Sefolosha: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Ryan Anderson: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($250K; increased to $500K on opening night). Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Two-way contracts:
- Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Chris Clemons: One year, minimum salary (Converted to two-way contract).
- Anthony Bennett: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Jaron Blossomgame: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Matur Maker: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- William McDowell-White: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Shamorie Ponds: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
Trades:
- Acquired Russell Westbrook from the Thunder in exchange for Chris Paul, the Rockets’ 2024 first-round pick (top-four protected), the Rockets’ 2026 first-round pick (top-four protected), the right to swap 2021 first-round picks (top-four protected), the right to swap 2025 first-round picks (top-10 protected), and conditional cash ($1MM).
- Note: The Rockets would only owe the Thunder $1MM (and a 2026 second-round pick) if the 2026 first-round pick lands in the top four.
Draft picks:
- None
Waiver claims:
- Deyonta Davis (from Hawks): Two years, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed second year. Claimed using minimum salary exception. (Later waived).
- Ray Spalding (from Hawks): One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed. Claimed using minimum salary exception. (Later waived).
Contract extensions:
- Eric Gordon: Four years, $75.57MM. Fourth year is non-guaranteed. Starts in 2020/21; runs through 2023/24.
Departing players:
- Chris Chiozza (waived)
- Trevon Duval (two-way)
- Vince Edwards (two-way)
- Kenneth Faried
- Chris Paul
- Iman Shumpert
Other offseason news:
- Created tension between NBA, China after GM Daryl Morey tweeted support for protestors in Hong Kong.
- Failed to reach extension agreement with head coach Mike D’Antoni.
- Parted ways with associate head coach Jeff Bzdelik and other assistant coaches.
- Hired Elston Turner as lead assistant coach.
- Gerald Green underwent surgery on broken foot; expected to miss six months.
- Renounced draft rights to 2013 second-round pick Marko Todorovic.
Salary cap situation:
- Remained over the cap.
- Carrying approximately $141.2MM in salary.
- Approximately $1.3MM over the tax line after removing Nene‘s incentives.
- $2.72MM of taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($3.54MM used on Danuel House).
- Seven traded player exceptions available; largest TPE ($3.62MM) expires 2/7/20.
Story of the summer:
In the 2018 playoffs, an unfortunately-timed Chris Paul injury helped sink Houston in the Western Conference Finals and derailed what could have been a title run. In 2019’s rematch with the Warriors, it was Golden State dealing with a potentially devastating injury to a star, as a Kevin Durant calf strain opened the door for Houston to exact its revenge.
Even playing at home against a Durant-less Golden State team in Game 6 of the Western Semifinals though, the Rockets couldn’t pull out a victory. And after suffering yet another postseason defeat at the hands of the Warriors, Houston went soul searching.
Reports swirled early in the offseason that the relationship between James Harden and Paul was becoming increasingly untenable. Trade rumors surrounded nearly everyone Rockets player except Harden, with Clint Capela seemingly on the verge of being dealt at one point as Houston pushed to land Jimmy Butler.
However, the break-up of the Warriors at the start of the free agent period was a game changer. With Kevin Durant headed elsewhere and Klay Thompson having just undergone ACL surgery, the Western Conference suddenly looked a little more wide open.
It wouldn’t take a drastic overhaul of the Rockets’ roster to make the team a legit championship contender after all. No team besides the Warriors had defeated Houston in the postseason since 2017. With the Dubs defanged, why couldn’t the Rockets emerge as the new frontrunner in the West?
Of course, with would-be contenders in Utah, Denver, and Los Angeles loading up at the same time, simply standing pat wouldn’t necessarily put the Rockets in position to fill the power vacuum in the West. So just when it looked as if a wild week or two of player movement was winding down, general manager Daryl Morey went out and made a splash of his own, sending Paul to the Thunder in a trade for Russell Westbrook.
It’s still not clear how much the reported tension between Harden and Paul factored into the move — Morey has denied it was a factor and downplayed the notion it even existed in the first place. But at this point, the more pressing question is how the pairing of former MVPs in the Rockets’ backcourt will work. Houston faced similar questions after the acquisition of Paul in 2017 and ultimately quieted those skeptics, but Westbrook isn’t the shooter that CP3 is, and he’s one of the only players in the NBA who is as ball-dominant as Harden. It’ll make for a fascinating merger.
Of course, you could argue that the real story of the Rockets’ summer was what happened in the fall, when Morey created an international incident with a brief, quickly-deleted tweet in support of Hong Kong protestors. Houston has long been the most popular franchise in China due to Yao Ming‘s stint with the team, but Morey’s well-meaning message in support of human rights may changed that in one fell swoop.
It could be months or years before we have a real idea of how that one tweet impacted the Rockets and the NBA financially, but for now Morey and the team have gone mum on the issue, hoping to shift fans’ focus to what’s happening on the court.
