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Rockets’ Trade Exception Set To Expire

September 2nd, 2019 at 12:06pm CST by Luke Adams

A Rockets traded player exception created in the team’s Ryan Anderson trade with the Suns last August is set to expire if it goes unused on Tuesday. The trade exception, which is worth a modest $2,584,136, is one of just a handful of remaining TPEs around the NBA that will expire in 2019, as our tracker shows.

As we explain in our glossary entry on the subject, traded player exceptions can be used to acquire one or more players whose salary fits within the amount of the exception. Using their TPE, the over-the-cap Rockets wouldn’t have to send out any salary to acquire a player earning up to $2,684,136 (the amount of the exception, plus $100K).

Trade exceptions expire after one year if they go unused. The Rockets technically made their Anderson trade with Phoenix on August 31, 2018, but a TPE can’t expire on a weekend or holiday, so Houston gets a few extra days with this one.

The Rockets almost certainly won’t make use of the Anderson TPE on Tuesday, but losing it will have little impact on the club’s flexibility. Houston will still have seven more trade exceptions available, including two that are worth more than the Anderson exception. The largest of those TPEs, a $3.62MM exception, will expire on February 7, 2020.

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Eric Gordon Discusses Contract Extension

September 1st, 2019 at 2:20pm CST by Arthur Hill

Rockets guard Eric Gordon talked about his new four-year extension on Saturday in a series of tweets from Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston. Gordon and the team reached an agreement late Friday night on a deal that will pay him roughly $75.6MM.

The deal includes a unique clause that guarantees the final year only if he makes an All-Star team or Houston wins a championship. Gordon will make $14,057,730 this year and was set to be a free agent next summer.

He has been a productive scorer for the Rockets, averaging 16.8 PPG since signing with the team in the summer of 2016. He has also put together his three healthiest seasons since he was a rookie, appearing in 75, 69 and 68 games over the past three years.

“Definitely means a lot,” Gordon told Berman. “We knew we needed to get it done before the season started. I knew how important I was to them and how important it was to me to be on a really good team and do well. … Houston is home. It’s very special. It’s definitely exciting. I’m all about team success and me being a big part of that. They know my work ethic. They know my kind of leadership and what I bring to the table. Ownership wants to win.”

Gordon is the latest key piece of Houston’s foundation to reach a long-term agreement with the team. James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Clint Capela are all under contract through 2022/23, while P.J. Tucker is hoping to receive an extension as well.

“It made the decision even easier,” Gordon said. “Now that we’re here for a long time, it’s easier to do what’s necessary and right to win the championship.”

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NBA Teams With Open Two-Way Contract Slots

August 28th, 2019 at 3:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Only a small handful of two-way players from 2018/19 had their contracts carried over to the 2019/20 season. A couple more of last year’s two-way players have signed new two-way deals. For the most part though, NBA teams have filled their two-way contract slots for the coming season with new faces, including several rookies who went undrafted in 2019.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Two-Way Contracts]

At the moment, 44 of 60 league-wide two-way contract slots are occupied. A 45th appears set to be filled if and when the Knicks finalize their reported agreement with Kris Wilkes. That leaves just 15 two-way deals available across the NBA as training camps approach.

Some clubs may not fill these slots before camps get underway, preferring to sign players to non-guaranteed NBA contracts and then convert those deals to two-way pacts later, depending on how players perform in camp and in the preseason. By the time the 2019/20 regular season begins though, I don’t expect many two-way slots to still be open.

With the help of our two-way contract tracker, which lists all the players currently on two-way deals, here are the teams who can still offer two-way contracts without waiving anyone:

Two open slots:

  • Houston Rockets
  • Miami Heat
  • Toronto Raptors

One open slot:

  • Brooklyn Nets
  • Charlotte Hornets
  • Chicago Bulls
  • Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Denver Nuggets
  • New York Knicks
    • Note: The Knicks only have a slot available if their reported deal with Wilkes isn’t finalized.
  • Oklahoma City Thunder
  • Phoenix Suns
  • Portland Trail Blazers
  • Washington Wizards
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Western Notes: Harden, Kings, Rockets

August 25th, 2019 at 8:38pm CST by JD Shaw

Rockets star James Harden has been testing a new one-legged, step-back three-pointer during several open runs this summer, seeking new ways to innovate his game for the upcoming season, Tim MacMahon of ESPN writes.

“I’m always trying to be creative,” Harden said. “I’m always trying to get better — at basketball, life, businesswise. I’m always trying to find ways to be impactful. With basketball, you have to be creative. This is my 11th year, and every single year I want to get better. I don’t want to stay the same. You’ve got to find ways to keep growing.”

The Rockets struck a major trade to acquire star guard Russell Westbrook from Oklahoma City this summer, sending away multiple first-round picks and pick swaps to sacrifice their future for a championship. Harden appears to be locked into having the best season of his career, hoping to capitalize on the team’s massive potential.

“I’m not sure; it’s something that I work on,” Harden said when asked if he’ll use the one-legged, step-back 3 this upcoming season. “But you know how Mike [Jordan] has his fadeaway and Dirk [Nowitzki] has his one-leg and [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar] had the sky hook, I want my step-back to be one of those moves that last forever. So when I travel around the world and I see little kids that [say], ‘Hey James, I got a step-back!’ — I love to see that.

“It’s me being a creator and me being an innovator and paving the way in basketball in my own way, doing it how I want to do it, and that’s what it’s all about. As a little kid playing in these parks, that’s what I imagined, that’s what I dreamed of. Now it’s coming to reality, so it’s pretty cool.”

There’s more out of the Western Conference tonight:

  • In addition to testing a new lethal move, Harden recently made the decision to donate in excess of $240K to renovate basketball courts in Houston, as relayed by Ben DuBose of The Rockets Wire (Twitter link). This isn’t the first time he’s given back to the city of Houston, with the 29-year-old donating $1MM in 2017 to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.
  • Jack Winter of Basketball Insiders ponders whether the Kings are finally bound to make the playoffs after 14 years of missing the tournament. Sacramento sports a young nucleus of De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III, combined with the veteran help of Harrison Barnes, Trevor Ariza, Dewayne Dedmon and others. The team finished with a 39-43 record last season, nine games behind the eighth seed Clippers.
  • While the 2018/19 Most Valuable Player race between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Harden was close, Harden believes the media created a narrative that cost him his second MVP award, he told 97.9 The Box. “I had a [season] for the books, but it’s out of my control,” he said. “Once the media creates that narrative about one person for the beginning of the year, I think they just run with that narrative until the end of the year. I don’t want to get into details but all I can do is control what I can do and I did what I was supposed to do at a high level. Only a few seasons anybody ever did that. I can’t control that, all I can control is coming back next year and winning a chip.”
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P.J. Tucker “Optimistic” About Receiving Extension

August 20th, 2019 at 9:40am CST by Dana Gauruder

Forward P.J. Tucker is “optimistic” about reaching an extension agreement with the Rockets, Kelly Iko of The Athletic reports.

The upcoming campaign is the last fully guaranteed season on his four-year, $32MM contract that was signed in 2016. He’ll receive $8.35MM in 2019/20 before dropping to $7.97MM in its final year. That ’20/21 salary is also only partially guaranteed for approximately $2.57MM, per Basketball Insiders’ data.

Tucker believes something must happen sooner rather than later.

“It’s time for my extension right now, so we’ll see,” he said. “We’ll see what happens. I’m optimistic, we’ll see.”

Tucker, 34, played a crucial role for the Rockets in 2018/19, starting all 82 games for the club and averaging 7.3 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 34.2 MPG. He averaged 38.7 MPG in 11 playoff contests. His ability to knock down threes on offense (.377 3PT%), along with his versatility on the defensive end, makes him one of the club’s most valuable players.

Tucker was considered a safe bet to make Team USA’s World Cup roster before he withdrew due to an ankle injury suffered in practice. He expressed his desire for a contract extension earlier this summer but his latest comments point to mutual interest in getting something done.

Extending his deal by one or two seasons and guaranteeing his ’20/21 salary would be the most logical course of action. The over-38 rule would complicate an extension longer than two years.

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P.J. Tucker Withdraws From Team USA Due To Ankle Injury

August 16th, 2019 at 3:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Another veteran has withdrawn from Team USA’s World Cup roster, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that an ankle injury will sideline P.J. Tucker. The Rockets forward will focus on getting healthy and preparing for training camp, per Charania.

Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle notes (via Twitter) that Tucker turned his left ankle in a practice on Thursday and has been diagnosed with a mild sprain. The 34-year-old had been “extremely enthusiastic” about participating in the World Cup, so he’ll be disappointed to miss it, Feigen adds.

It was less than a week ago that USA Basketball announced 17 finalists for its World Cup roster. Since then, Tucker, Kyle Lowry, and Marvin Bagley have all pulled out, leaving 14 contenders for the final 12-man roster.

Harrison Barnes, Jaylen Brown, De’Aaron Fox, Joe Harris, Kyle Kuzma, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, Donovan Mitchell, Mason Plumlee, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Myles Turner, Kemba Walker, and Derrick White remain in the mix to represents Team USA in China. The 2019 World Cup will get underway on August 31.

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Details On Westbrook's Amended Payout Schedule

August 15th, 2019 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Following up on his recent report that Russell Westbrook amended the payment schedule on his contract upon being traded to the Rockets, Marc Stein of The New York Times provided some additional details in his newsletter this week.

According to Stein, Westbrook’s contract previously called for 25% of his $38.5MM salary to be paid on August 1 and again on October 1. As part of his trade to the Rockets, those installments were adjusted downward to 12.5% of his salary, meaning they’re now worth $4.8MM apiece instead of $9.6MM, Stein writes.

The changes will allow Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta to avoid paying half of Westbrook’s $38.5MM salary by October 1. Under Fertitta, the club has been averse to making significant upfront payments in a variety of transactions — when Houston traded cash in three separate deals during the 2018/19 league year, it always sent that cash in many installments, rather than in a single lump sum.

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Southwest Notes: Doncic, Roby, Ivey, Westbrook

August 11th, 2019 at 3:59pm CST by clarkcrum

Callie Caplan of SportsDay reports that 2018/19 NBA Rookie of the Year, Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, is working his tail off this summer to become better conditioned as he becomes a focus night in and night out for Mavs’ opponents during the 2019/20 season.

Per Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, “it’s just a natural progression that every player needs to have going from Year 1 to Year 2, especially someone like Luka that had such a great first year. People are really going to be coming for him in his second year, and the continued work on body and conditioning and developing his game is going to keep moving him in the direction of becoming a really great player.”

Doncic, who is training in his native Slovenia this summer, has not yet returned to Dallas to join his Mavericks teammates, but Carlisle, assistant coach Jamahl Mosley and teammate Dwight Powell all visited him this offseason and liked what they saw. “I know he’s working his butt off this summer,” Carlisle added. “I know he’s very motivated for this (upcoming) season.”

There’s more news from around the Southwest Division this afternoon:

  • Newy Scruggs of NBC5 Dallas-Fort Worth (h/t to SportsDay) suggests that although the $1.5MM first-year salary for rookie Isaiah Roby may seem high, it was not an overpay by the Mavericks because of the lack of guaranteed salary in years three and four. Moreover, at least one source told Scruggs that Roby has Kyle Kuzma-type potential. If so, his contract will be a steal.
  • Niele Ivey, the first female assistant coach in Grizzlies history, believes that outside of being a head coach, a move to the NBA was the next step in her professional career, writes David Cobb of The Commercial Appeal. “I was like, ‘you know what? I felt like I’ve worked really hard and I’m at a great point in my career now and — outside of being a head coach — this would be next level for me.'”
  • As we noted yesterday, Rockets point guard Russell Westbrook agreed to alter his payout dates when he was traded from Oklahoma City in order to ease the initial/upfront financial burden on Houston ownership.
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Westbrook Agrees To Alter Contract; Hartenstein, Frazier Get Extra Work In

August 10th, 2019 at 6:21pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • As part of his trade from the Thunder to the Rockets, Russell Westbrook agreed to alter his contract, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. The changes will make his deal “more team-friendly and less front-loaded,” sources tell Stein.
  • Isaiah Hartenstein and Michael Frazier are trying to seize opportunities with the Rockets through extensive offseason workouts that are heavy on 3-point shooting, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Both players will come to camp next month without fully guaranteed deals. Hartenstein has a 50% guarantee on his $1,416,852 contract for this season, while Frazier has the same salary with no guarantee.
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