Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Market Heating Up For Amir Johnson

June 30th, 2017 at 9:58pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Unrestricted free agent Amir Johnson isn’t likely to be re-signed by the Celtics, but the forward isn’t lacking for suitors. Per a report by Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, Johnson already has three meetings scheduled for tomorrow in Los Angeles. On Saturday’s agenda for Johnson will be sit-downs with the Bulls, Raptors and Rockets, per the scribe.

Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer adds a fourth team, the Sixers, to the mix. Johnson, a 12-year veteran, would provide a huge locker room presence and the veteran leadership Philly lost after waiving Gerald Henderson earlier today, Pompey notes.

The big man previously was a member of the Raptors from 2009/10 through 2014/15, and could be viewed as a cheaper alternative to Toronto re-signing Patrick Patterson. An earlier report by Deveney noted that their was “mutual interest” in a reunion between the two parties.

Johnson, 30, appeared in 80 games (77 starts) for the Celtics in 2016/17, averaging 6.5 PPG and 4.6 RPG with a .576/.409/.670 shooting line. The forward earned $12MM for his efforts last season in Beantown.

Details Of Cash Deals; Rockets Consider Zhou Qi Deal

June 30th, 2017 at 9:55pm CST by Austin Kent

As the smoke clears from the chaos of the Chris Paul trade, details have emerged regarding the numerous side deals that went down in order for the Rockets to acquire the superstar point guard from the Clippers.

We broke down the math behind the trades but Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders has provided insight as to the exact financial details of the deals that brought players on non-guaranteed deals to the Rockets in exchange for cash considerations.

The Rockets will pay the Mavs $175K for DeAndre Liggins.
The Rockets will pay the Hawks $75K for Ryan Kelly.
The Rockets will pay the Trail Blazers $100K for Tim Quarterman.
The Rockets will pay the Pistons $1MM for Darrun Hilliard.
The Rockets could look to sign Zhou Qi to a multiyear deal by using a portion of their mid-level exception, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes, but they wouldn’t be opposed to siging him to a shorter deal if that meant landing another coveted free agent.

Knicks, Rockets Discuss Anthony

June 30th, 2017 at 7:56pm CST by Austin Kent

The Rockets and Knicks have connected with regard to Carmelo Anthony, Ian Begley of ESPN writes, but the two parties haven’t gained traction on a possible deal. Per Begley, the Knicks aren’t exactly enamored with the idea of landing Ryan Anderson in exchange for the All-Star forward.

Commenting on the Begley tweet, Sean Deveney of the Sporting News posits that Houston could be banking on a buyout. The Rockets have, after all, made themselves considerably more appealing to Anthony now with the addition of his close friend Chris Paul.

Anthony has been the subject of trade rumors for over a year now but the recent shakeup in New York’s front office could potentially keep him within the organization. While Anthony’s no-trade clause puts him in the power position, a miserable relationship with former Knicks president Phil Jackson could have contributed to the forward being receptive to a move out of town.

The Cavaliers are another possible destination for Anthony, should the team ultimately decide to buy him out, something that at this point remains far from guaranteed.

J.J. Redick Interested In Rockets

June 30th, 2017 at 2:50pm CST by Luke Adams

One of the Clippers’ core players headed from Los Angeles to Houston this week, and Chris Paul may not be the last Clipper to make that move this offseason. According to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times (via Twitter), J.J. Redick is interested in joining the Rockets if the finances work out.

Those finances may be tricky. With Houston poised to be an over-the-cap team heading into the new league year, the club would be limited to the $8.4MM mid-level exception. A sign-and-trade is also a possibility, though the Rockets already sent a number of noteworthy trade pieces to the Clippers in this week’s CP3 deal.

Redick is coming off a season in which he earned about $7.38MM, which makes Houston’s MLE look reasonable. But as the top unrestricted free agent shooting guard on the market, he’ll likely be in line for a major raise, and at age 33, this looks like his best chance at one last big payday. As Turner notes in his report, a team like the Nets or Sixers may be willing to make a much more aggressive offer for Redick, perhaps in the range of $16MM+ per year.

Our list of 2017’s top 50 free agents has Redick ranked at No. 16.

Paul, Harden, D'Antoni Will Have To Adapt

June 29th, 2017 at 10:57pm CST by Austin Kent

There’s no denying that for Chris Paul to thrive with the Rockets, he, Mike D’Antoni and James Harden will all have to end up on the same page. Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report writes about how they’ll need to adapt to make that happen.

Clippers Waive Darrun Hilliard

June 29th, 2017 at 3:24pm CST by Arthur Hill

Darrun Hilliard, part of the package the Clippers received from Houston in Wednesday’s Chris Paul trade, has been waived, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times.

Hilliard began Wednesday in Detroit, where he had spent the past two seasons with the Pistons. His non-guaranteed $1,471,382 salary for next season made him a target for the Rockets, who were looking for easily waived players to help match Paul’s salary. Houston acquired Hilliard for cash considerations and sent him to L.A.

The 38th pick in the 2015 draft, Hilliard spent much of the past two years in the G League. He got into 39 games with the Pistons this season, averaging 3.3 points in 9.8 minutes per night.

Mavericks Trade Jarrod Uthoff To Rockets

June 29th, 2017 at 1:38pm CST by Luke Adams

After completing six trades on Wednesday, the Rockets are back at it today. Houston has acquired forward Jarrod Uthoff from Dallas in exchange for cash considerations, the Mavericks announced in a press release.

[RELATED: 2017 NBA Offseason Trades]

Uthoff, 24, signed a 10-day contract with the Mavs in March, then stuck around for another 10-day contract and a rest-of-season deal. The Iowa alum appeared in just nine games for the team, averaging 4.4 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 12.8 minutes per contest.

On Wednesday, the Rockets appeared to be taking on players with non-guaranteed 2017/18 salaries in order to use them to match salaries in their acquisition of Chris Paul. DeAndre Liggins and Darrun Hilliard were eventually included in that deal with the Clippers, but Shawn Long, Tim Quarterman, and Ryan Kelly weren’t.

Like those players, Uthoff has a non-guaranteed minimum salary for 2017/18. However, because he wasn’t acquired using available cap room, he can’t be aggregated with other players in a trade for two months. We’ll have to wait to see whether he and the other newly-acquired Rockets are actually in the team’s plans for next season, or if they’ll ultimately become salary fodder for another deal at some point.

Uthoff’s ’17/18 salary will become fully guaranteed if he remains under contract through July 30.

Execs Suspicious Of CP3 Tampering, But Won't 'Rat Anybody Out'

June 29th, 2017 at 12:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Executives around the NBA have questions about the way the Paul deal between the Rockets and Clippers went down, though an Eastern Conference exec says that no one’s going to “rat anybody out” when it comes to tampering. Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times has the details and the quotes.

Sixers Get $100K, Rockets' Second-Rounder In Long Trade

June 29th, 2017 at 9:20am CST by Luke Adams

In a pair of tweets, Derek Bodner clarifies the Sixers‘ return in Wednesday’s Shawn Long trade, reporting that Philadelphia received $100K in cash and the Rockets‘ own 2018 second-round pick. The $100K in cash was the maximum the 76ers could receive before July 1, since the team was up against its limit for the 2016/17 league year.

Free Agent Notes: Caldwell-Pope, Korver, Millsap, Hill

June 28th, 2017 at 9:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

Coach/executive Stan Van Gundy says keeping restricted free agent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will be the Pistons‘ priority in free agency, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News. The Pistons submitted a $4.96MM qualifying offer to Caldwell-Pope earlier this week, giving them the right to match any offer he receives. Van Gundy adds that the team will be searching for a third center at the veterans minimum and would like to find a veteran point guard to back up Reggie Jackson and Ish Smith (Twitter link). “Our main focus in [free agency] is guards,” Van Gundy said, “whether it’s our own guys or whatever we can spend on the MLE.”

There’s more as the free agency countdown continues:

Luxury tax issues could force Kyle Korver out of Cleveland, even though he and the team would like to extend their relationship, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. The Cavaliers may have to part with Korver, who shot a league-best .485 from 3-point range this season, if a large offer comes from another organization. Cleveland topped the $113MM tax threshold by $15MM this year and is facing a luxury tax bill of about $24.8MM, which includes a repeater penalty for exceeding the threshold every year since LeBron James returned. The Cavs currently have 10 players under contract for 2017/18 with a total salary of $128MM. With a projected tax line of $119MM, the team is looking at $29.75MM in taxes without filling up the roster.
Six to eight teams are expected to pursue Hawks forward Paul Millsap, tweets Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution. The Nuggets, Spurs and Rockets are teams that have expressed interest in Millsap, although Houston’s plans may be altered by the package it gave the Clippers today in exchange for Chris Paul. New Hawks GM Travis Schlenk has said the Hawks don’t expect to make a full max offer to Millsap.
Gordon Hayward is hoping the Jazz will re-sign point guard George Hill, relays Jody Genessy of The Deseret News (Twitter link). Utah is hoping for an early meeting with Hill, who averaged 16.9 points in 49 games after coming to the team in an offseason trade. Hayward remains the top priority in free agency, and the Jazz will meet with him Monday after he hears presentations from the Heat and Celtics.