Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Carmelo Anthony Trade Talks On Hold

July 14th, 2017 at 9:13am CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 14, 9:13am: As the Knicks regroup on the Anthony front, the team’s primary hope is that Carmelo will consider expanding his wish list beyond Houston and Cleveland, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post.

Anthony, who has a no-trade clause, could veto any deal, but has expressed a willingness to waive that NTC for the Rockets or Cavaliers — the Knicks have been unable to work out a deal with either of those teams, so adding more clubs to the list could increase their chances of getting something done.

Berman also notes within his story that the Nuggets were among the clubs who explored getting involved in three- or four-team trade talks when those discussions were active.

JULY 13, 9:04pm: The Knicks have paused Carmelo Anthony trade talks with both the Rockets and Cavaliers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. New York would like to reopen dialogue with Anthony about “reincorporating him into the organization.”

It was previously reported that Anthony’s representatives wanted to see a deal get done this week. The Rockets and Knicks were looking to pull off a multi-team trade and were searching for a fourth team to help facilitate a deal. The two sides discussed a three-team deal last weekend, but those talks reportedly “stalled.”

Scott Perry’s pending arrival as GM has made team executive Steve Mills reconsider his stance on trading Anthony, the pair of scribes add. Perry, who currently is the Kings VP of basketball operations, and the Knicks have agreed on a deal to make the executive the team’s new GM. However, Sacramento and New York still need to work out compensation in order to finalize Perry’s hiring.

The Knicks would like Anthony to meet with the team’s new front office as well as coach Jeff Hornacek soon, but the pair of ESPN scribes add that it’s unlikely Anthony will respond with eagerness to stay with the franchise.

The Rockets acquired Chris Paul two weeks ago and since the trade, Houston has been cited as a potential landing spot for Anthony. In order to bring the 10-time All-Star aboard, Houston would presumably need to move Ryan Anderson, who will earn more than $19.5MM during the 2017/18 campaign. New York has no interest in adding Anderson to the team.

Chris Paul Discusses Move From Clippers To Rockets

July 13th, 2017 at 10:28am CST by Luke Adams

In an interview with Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, Chris Paul explained why he felt it was time to move on from the Clippers, and what drew him to the Rockets.
Isaiah Taylor, who has a non-guaranteed minimum salary for 2017/18, will likely spend the majority of the season with the Rockets rather than the team’s G League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, per head coach Mike D’Antoni (Twitter link via Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle). Of course, that assumes Houston doesn’t use Taylor’s non-guaranteed contract to help accommodate a trade.

Pelicans May Help Facilitate Carmelo Anthony Trade

July 12th, 2017 at 6:21pm CST by Arthur Hill

Earlier today, we told you the Rockets and Knicks were looking for a fourth team to help finalize a trade involving Carmelo Anthony. The Pelicans have expressed interest in becoming that fourth team, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post.

It’s not clear whether New Orleans would take on the three years and more than $61MM left on Ryan Anderson‘s contract or if he would go to another team. Anderson spent four years with the Pelicans franchise before signing with Houston last summer. The Rockets need to move his salary to make room for Anthony, while the Knicks have no need for Anderson because he plays the same position as Kristaps Porzingis and he goes against their new philosophy of avoiding older players on long-term deals.

Representatives for Anthony would like to see the deal get done this week, Berman adds. Houston has scheduled a press conference for Friday to officially welcome Chris Paul, but Berman sees little chance that the trade will be complete in time for Anthony to make a surprise appearance. Multiple sources tell Berman that no deal will happen until “well after” Friday. He states that the sides are getting closer to an agreement and are still “motivated,” but much work still remains. A proposed three-team trade reportedly “stalled” over the weekend, forcing the Rockets and Knicks to start the process over.

Sources tell Berman that Knicks acting president Steve Mills is so focused on the Anthony negotiations that it has prevented the team from finding a veteran point guard. There is speculation that New York may try to fill the position through the Anthony deal.

Houston’s first attempts to acquire Anthony were unsuccessful, Berman adds, because the Knicks were restructuring their front office after former president Phil Jackson was fired. However, owner James Dolan has now signed off on moving Anthony and plans to make Mills the new team president.

Insiders tell Berman that Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni initially wasn’t on board with acquiring Anthony because of their past differences in New York. However, with Paul, James Harden and Nene all pushing for the move, D’Antoni has been left with no choice.

Knicks, Rockets Explore Four-Team Carmelo Scenarios

July 12th, 2017 at 3:23pm CST by Luke Adams

3:23pm: An Anthony trade involving the Knicks and Rockets is “at the two-yard line,” a source tells Stefan Bondy and Frank Isola of The New York Daily News. It’s not clear exactly how close the teams are – presumably not as close as if talks were “at the one-yard line” – but as ESPN’s report below indicates, both the Knicks and Rockets are motivated to complete a deal if they can find a scenario that appeases all involved parties.

10:17am: The Knicks and Rockets have explored Carmelo Anthony trade scenarios that would include up to two other teams in a possible four-team deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). However, while New York and Houston are both motivated to get something done, no agreement is imminent, according to Wojnarowski.

Since the Rockets’ acquisition of Chris Paul two weeks ago, Houston has been frequently cited as a potential landing spot for Anthony, with the Cavaliers viewed as the other viable suitor for the veteran forward. The Rockets appear to be more aggressively pursuing a deal at this point, but a match between Houston and New York is tricky.

For the Rockets to move enough salary to accommodate Anthony’s oversized contract, the team would almost certainly have to part with Ryan Anderson, who will earn more than $19.5MM this season. Anderson’s contract has three years left on it though, with cap hits of $20MM+ in 2018/19 and $21MM+ in ’19/20, and the Knicks have no interest in taking on that sort of long-term money for a veteran.

For a Rockets trade for Anthony to work, at least one other team would likely have to get involved to take on Anderson’s contract. That club accommodating the salary dump would require at least an asset or two for its troubles, and Houston has already traded its 2018 first-round pick, so it will be tricky to find a deal that makes three teams happy. A four-team deal, which would likely involve more players and picks, would be even more challenging. As such, we shouldn’t necessarily expect quick resolution.

Earlier this week, we identified the teams with cap room remaining — I’d expect the Rockets and Knicks are trying to engage several teams on that list. However, the Lakers have since committed their space to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, while the Hawks have cut into their room with a deal for Dewayne Dedmon.

If the Rockets can reach a trade agreement for Anthony, the longtime Knick is expected to waive his no-trade clause – and perhaps part of his trade kicker – to make the deal work.

Harden Extension Includes Player Option; Oliver Gets $300K Guarantee

July 11th, 2017 at 3:37pm CST by Luke Adams

As for James Harden‘s super-max extension with the Rockets, the final year of that deal (2022/23) is a player option (Twitter link).
The Rockets signed undrafted rookie Cameron Oliver to a two-year, minimum salary contract that includes $300K in guaranteed money (Twitter link).

Sixers Sign Amir Johnson

July 8th, 2017 at 6:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 8, 6:57pm: Johnson’s signing is official, the Sixers announced in an email.

JULY 1, 6:25pm: The Sixers and Celtics discussed a sign-and-trade involving Jahlil Okafor for Johnson, but the deal never materialized, Wojnarowski said on ESPN’s televised coverage of free agency.

5:09pm: Amir Johnson will join the Sixers on a one-year, $11MM deal contract, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com.

The 11-year veteran started 77 games for the Celtics this season, averaging 6.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per night. He made $12MM this year in the final season of a two-year contract.

There had been rumors that the Celtics were interested in a sign-and-trade with the Sixers involving Johnson, but this appears to be a straight free-agent signing.

The Bulls, Raptors and Rockets also expressed interest in Johnson, and all three teams had meetings with him scheduled for today.

Cameron Oliver Signs With Rockets

July 8th, 2017 at 5:38pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8, 5:38pm: The signing is official, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26.

JUNE 22, 11:45pm: Undrafted rookie free agent Cameron Oliver has found an NBA home, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN.com, who tweets that Oliver has agreed to a free agent contract with the Rockets. Oliver will get a multiyear deal from Houston later in the offseason, per Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link).

Oliver, a sophomore in 2016/17, declared for the draft after a productive season in which he averaged 16.0 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and an impressive 2.6 BPG. The 6’8″ forward ranked as the 55th-best prospect on DraftExpress’ big board, but wasn’t selected on Thursday night.

Once his deal becomes official, Oliver figures to head to training camp with the Rockets as a member of the 20-man roster. It remains to be seen whether he’ll have a legit chance to earn a spot on the team’s regular season roster.

Rockets Sign James Harden To Designated Veteran Extension

July 8th, 2017 at 3:16pm CST by Joshua Fischman

James Harden and the Rockets have finalized a contract extension that will keep him under contract through the 2022/23 season, the team announced today in a press release. Brian Windhorst and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (link via Woj’s Twitter) first reported that Harden and the Rockets were making progress toward a new deal that will be the biggest in NBA history.

The new contract will begin in 2019/20, replacing Harden’s player option, and will add four years to the guaranteed two years on his current deal.

“Houston is home for me,” Harden said in a statement. “Mr. [Leslie] Alexander has shown he is fully committed to winning and my teammates and I are going to keep putting in the work to get better and compete for the title.”

Harden just signed an extension with the Rockets last summer, and typically wouldn’t be permitted to sign another new deal so soon. However, he and Russell Westbrook are eligible for extensions this summer, having been grandfathered in under the Designated Veteran Extension rules in the new CBA. The DVE allows players to sign for super-max deals worth 35% of the cap when they are named to the league’s All-NBA team and/or meet other criteria.

The exact terms of Harden’s extension will depend on where the NBA’s salary cap lands in 2019/20, but based on current projections, it would be worth more than $169MM over the four new years, running through 2022/23. Combined with his next two seasons, he’d be on track to earn approximately $228MM over the next six years.

Harden, who turns 28 next month, is coming off an MVP-caliber season in which he set new career highs in PPG (29.1), APG (11.2), and RPG (8.1). He’ll join forces in 2017/18 with fellow All-Star Chris Paul, who was acquired by Houston last month in a blockbuster trade with the Clippers.

Westbrook (Thunder) and John Wall (Wizards) are the other stars expected to receive Designated Veteran Extension offers this offseason, if they haven’t already. Stephen Curry (Warriors) agreed to the first of those deals last weekend.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Knicks Expected To Renew Carmelo Anthony Talks

July 8th, 2017 at 2:53pm CST by Joshua Fischman

After signing Tim Hardaway Jr. to a lucrative new deal, the Knicks are expected to renew their willingness to collaborate with the Rockets on trade scenarios to unload Carmelo Anthony, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The Rockets have been persistent in their pursuit of Anthony, who remains willing to waive his no-trade clause to join Chris Paul and James Harden in Clutch City, per Wojnarowski. ESPN’s report, citing league sources, notes that the Knicks “do not imagine a scenario where Hardaway Jr. is sharing the floor with Anthony to start the season.” The Knicks now have $97.7MM in committed salary for the 2017/18 season with 10 guaranteed contracts, per Bobby Marks of ESPN, so moving Anthony would be one path to regaining a little financial flexibility.

Sam Amico of Amico Hoops provides further context as to what factors figure to be holding up an Anthony trade between the Knicks and either the Rockets or Cavaliers. Since Anthony possesses a no-trade clause, the Knicks’ options may be limited to these two teams.

Amico writes that the Knicks do not particularly want to take back Rockets forward Ryan Anderson and the Cavs aren’t eager to part with forward Kevin Love in a deal for Carmelo. The piece also states that Cleveland has floated Turkish draft-and-stash prospect Cedi Osman to entice New York, but Osman would come attached to multiple unappealing contracts. Amico suggests that the Cavs are content to play the waiting game in hopes that the Knicks cannot reach a deal with the Rockets and resort to buying Melo out.

Contract Details For P.J. Tucker, Zhou Qi

July 8th, 2017 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets split their mid-level exception between two players, with P.J. Tucker getting about $7.59MM and Zhou Qi getting the remaining $816K or so. Tucker’s contract is partially guaranteed in its fourth year ($2.6MM of $8MM guaranteed), while Zhou’s four-year pact isn’t guaranteed beyond year one (Twitter links).