Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern FA Rumors: Kuzma, Kyrie, Bridges, Crowder, Sixers

June 30th, 2023 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent forward Kyle Kuzma is seeking a contract “well above the mid-level exception,” according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, but it’s unclear which cap-room team might give him that sort of offer, especially if the Rockets and Pacers use their space on other players.

As Fischer writes, the Jazz were viewed as a legitimate suitor for Kuzma, but that option is almost certainly off the table following Utah’s deal for John Collins. People around the league have begun to consider it increasingly likely that Kuzma could re-sign with the Wizards, according to Fischer. While the Wizards are in the process of reshaping their roster, they’ll have Kuzma’s Bird rights and could view him as a future tradable asset as long as they don’t overpay him.

Here are more free agent rumors from around the Eastern Conference:

Following up on a report stating that Kyrie Irving had the Heat on his list of teams to meet with in free agency, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link) cites a source who says the Heat have no meeting scheduled with the star point guard. Irving will, however, meet with the Rockets, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Interestingly, Fischer writes that the Hornets “don’t appear to have a straightforward path to re-sign” restricted free agent forward Miles Bridges. According to Fischer, Bridges and his representatives have broached the idea of Charlotte pulling its qualifying offer to make him unrestricted. Based on Fischer’s report, it sounds like Bridges’ camp may not feel confident about its leverage in talks with the Hornets entering the summer. The forward isn’t eligible to be signed-and-traded because he wasn’t on Charlotte’s roster last season.
Although Jae Crowder is considered likely to re-sign with the Bucks, the veteran forward has also drawn interest from the Heat, league sources tell Fischer.
While the Sixers may be fairly quiet at the start of free agency, it’s possible it won’t take the team long to come to an agreement with restricted free agent Paul Reed, according to Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com. The team’s odds of bringing back Georges Niang, Jalen McDaniels, or Shake Milton don’t appear as strong. A source tell Neubeck that Niang may get “a nice chunk of money” from a rival suitor on the first day of free agency. Milton is unlikely to return to Philadelphia, while McDaniels’ free agency could take some time to play out, Neubeck adds.

Pacers May Offer Bruce Brown More Than $20MM Per Year

June 30th, 2023 at 1:18pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pacers may be prepared to offer Nuggets free agent Bruce Brown a contract worth more than $20MM per season, sources tell Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

Brown has become one of the hottest names on the free agent market, and several teams are hoping to land him with the $12.4MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Brown has reportedly scheduled meetings with five teams — the Knicks, Rockets, Mavericks and Lakers as well as Indiana. The Cavaliers and Timberwolves also consider Brown their top target, according to Fischer.

The Pacers have roughly $30MM in cap room, so signing Brown would account for most of that and would take them out of the running for other free agents, such as Heat shooting guard Max Strus.

Returning to Denver is also in play for Brown, according to Fischer, although the Nuggets can only pay him $7.8MM next season. Brown would be eligible to earn more than $50MM over four years from Denver next summer, which is still well short of the Pacers’ reported offer.

Rockets Rumors: Free Agents, Martin, Clarkson, Capela

June 30th, 2023 at 11:56am CST by Arthur Hill

Rockets officials hope to meet with several of their top targets in Los Angeles when free agency begins in a few hours, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Sources tell Iko that Houston has already set up meetings with Dillon Brooks and Brook Lopez and will try to arrange sessions with Fred VanVleet, Kyrie Irving, Bruce Brown, Dwight Powell, Jakob Poeltl and possibly Kyle Kuzma.

Brown is of particular interest because the Rockets would be willing to go above the $12.4MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign him, according to Iko’s sources. Head coach Ime Udoka was an assistant in Brooklyn when Brown played there and they have maintained a good relationship, Iko adds.

With more than $60MM in cap space, Houston officials are confident about signing their main targets, according to Iko, although some may prefer teams with more recent success. He confirms that the Rockets are hoping to avoid long-term contracts and will compensate by offering players more money up front than they’re likely to get elsewhere. Shooting, defense and rim protection will be the main focus, Iko states.

There’s more on the Rockets, all courtesy of Iko:

Houston is hoping to land a veteran point guard in free agency, but there’s a back-up plan if they can’t sign VanVleet, Irving or someone of that stature. Sources tell Iko that the Rockets would pursue someone like Brown, a strong perimeter defender who can handle the ball, and give Jalen Green and first-round pick Amen Thompson a greater share of the playmaking duties.
Iko hears that a Kenyon Martin Jr. trade is increasingly likely, as talks with other teams have increased throughout the week. Martin may not have a place on the revamped roster, and the team could add cap room by unloading his $1.93MM contract for next season.
Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson and Hawks center Clint Capela are two names to watch if the Rockets opt to use their cap space through trades rather than free agency. Iko notes that Utah executive Danny Ainge is reported to have interest in acquiring Martin and suggests that Houston might be willing to include second-year point guard TyTy Washington and maybe a second-round pick in a potential deal. Iko points out that Clarkson is eligible for an extension after picking up his $14.26MM option for next season and says the Rockets may offer something along the lines of $32MM over two years. Iko adds that Capela could be available straight up for Martin as Atlanta tries to shed salary.

Stein’s Latest: Mavs, D. Powell, VanVleet, Schröder, D. Hall

June 30th, 2023 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks “fully intend” to re-sign center Dwight Powell in free agency, Marc Stein reports in his latest rumor round-up at Substack. According to Stein, the Cavaliers and Rockets are also expected to show interest in Powell once he hits the open market, but the Mavs value him both on and off the court and are confident about their chances to retain him.

With Powell, Richaun Holmes, and lottery pick Dereck Lively II expected to be in the mix at center in Dallas, it didn’t make sense for Andre Drummond to turn down his player option with the Bulls in the hopes of signing with the Mavericks, Stein explains, following up on a previous rumor. If the Mavs had been able to trade Holmes, it might’ve been a different story, but Drummond opted for the guaranteed money and a clearer path to rotation minutes in Chicago.

Here’s more from Stein:

Fred VanVleet‘s current plan is to meet with both the Raptors and Rockets in person in Los Angeles when free agency opens on Friday, Stein tweets, reiterating in today’s article that Houston looks like a serious threat to sign the point guard away from Toronto.
The Lakers are “eager” to bring back point guard Dennis Schröder and would like to give him a raise, but will have a limited ability to do so with his Non-Bird rights. Echoing ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Stein says there’s a scenario in which Los Angeles commits a portion of its mid-level exception to Schröder and uses the rest on another player.
Former NBA big man Donta Hall, who is in the midst of a multiyear contract with AS Monaco in Europe, has an NBA opt-out in his deal and is attracting some interest from teams stateside, according to Stein, who names the Grizzlies and Trail Blazers as a couple of the clubs eyeing Hall.
One Western Conference front office executive was surprised by how many potential free agents exercised their player options. “I’ve never seen this many good players opt in,” the executive told Stein.

Bruce Brown Plans Meetings With Five Teams

June 30th, 2023 at 10:25am CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets free agent Bruce Brown will meet with the Knicks, Rockets, Pacers, Mavericks and Lakers when free agency begins later today, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.

Indiana was identified Thursday as a team to watch in the race for Brown. The Pacers have upwards of $30MM in cap room and can offer Brown more than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Houston is the only other team among those five that can exceed the MLE for the versatile guard, but the Rockets reportedly are focused on other targets.

The Lakers remain confident about their chances to land Brown with the MLE, but there are also indications that he may be open to a return to Denver, even though the Nuggets are limited to a $7.8MM offer with his non-Bird rights.

Clippers Are Harden’s Preferred Destination As Trade Talks Begin

June 30th, 2023 at 8:57am CST by Arthur Hill

James Harden‘s decision to exercise his $35.6MM player option and ask for a trade stems from displeasure with the Sixers over how they handled negotiations, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.

Harden has a strong desire to join the Clippers and is optimistic that a deal will take place, sources tell Amick. He also hears that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George support the idea of adding Harden.

Amick cites a series of “silent signals” from the Sixers organization that led to Harden’s dissatisfaction. After turning down a $47.4MM player option last summer and signing for $33MM to give the team extra cap space to build its roster, Harden was expecting a generous offer from Philadelphia president of basketball operations Daryl Morey if he declined his current option and entered free agency as expected.

However, sources tell Amick that Morey’s position was to have Harden test the market before making an offer. With interest from the Rockets reportedly drying up, Harden feared that the Sixers would offer a short-term, bargain contract and that he would be stuck on the open market with no way to get the type of deal he believes he deserves.

A potential return to Houston had been rumored since Christmas when ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that Harden was considering it. However, the Rockets decided weeks ago that Harden wasn’t a good fit under new coach Ime Udoka, according to Amick. Owner Tilman Fertitta, his son Patrick Fertitta and general manager Rafael Stone remain fond of Harden and are fans of what he can do on the court, Amick adds, but the organization decided to go in another direction with its $64MM in cap room.

Harden had been hoping to create a bidding war between the Sixers and Rockets to wind up with one last mega-deal — something in the range of $200MM over four years — according to Yaron Weitzman of Fox Sports. As of late May, Harden hadn’t communicated his intentions to Philadelphia’s front office, Weitzman adds, and there was concern than he planned to leave even after Nick Nurse replaced Doc Rivers as head coach.

However, Rockets executives have been letting the league know for several months that they weren’t convinced Harden was headed there, according to Weitzman’s sources. Also, per Weitzman, the Rockets have informed agents that they’re not interested in offering contracts longer than two years so they won’t run into a salary crunch when their young players start becoming eligible for extensions.

Amick reports that Harden had a desire to be traded to the Suns before they acquired Bradley Beal and that Kevin Durant was on board with the move. It also would have represented a homecoming for Harden, who played at Arizona State and still has a home in the Phoenix area, but Amick states that the Sixers never talked to the Suns about a possible deal before the Beal opportunity arose.

Shams Charania of The Athletic says Philadelphia has already started trade discussions and mentions the Clippers and Heat as the most likely destinations (Twitter link). He adds that there’s an understanding around the league that a player of Harden’s caliber will eventually reach his “preferred destination,” which seems to favor L.A.

Miami isn’t expected to aggressively pursue Harden, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, who adds the Heat are preserving their assets in case there’s an opportunity to acquire Damian Lillard from the Trail Blazers.

Scotto’s Latest: DiVincenzo, VanVleet, Poeltl, Lakers, Niang, Gallinari, More

June 29th, 2023 at 8:10pm CST by Luke Adams

Donte DiVincenzo is expected to be a popular target on the free agent market, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who identifies the Knicks, Timberwolves, Pistons, Pelicans, Rockets, Magic, and Bulls as teams that have interest in the veteran swingman. After settling for a $4.5MM salary in his last foray into free agency a year ago, DiVincenzo could get offers in the neighborhood of the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($12.4MM) this time around, says Scotto.

Here are a few more highlights from Scotto’s latest round-up of news and rumors from around the NBA:

The Raptors are hoping to re-sign Fred VanVleet on a three-year deal in the range of $90-100MM, says Scotto. The team is also looking to bring back center Jakob Poeltl, but may face serious competition from the Rockets on both players. Although Brook Lopez has been considered Houston’s primary target at center, there’s a belief that Lopez would prefer to return to the Bucks as long as their offer is in the same ballpark as Houston’s, Scotto explains. That could prompt Houston to pivot to Poeltl, who is also expected to receive from the Spurs, as previously reported.
While the Lakers would like to re-sign Dennis Schröder, they’re keeping an eye on several other free agent point guards, including Shake Milton, Cory Joseph, and Jevon Carter, says Scotto. In addition to the Bucks and Lakers, Carter is expected to receive interest from the Timberwolves and Suns, among others, Scotto adds.
Scotto is the second reporter to link Georges Niang to the Cavaliers today, noting that Cleveland offered a pair of second-round picks for him at the trade deadline. The Sixers, Bulls, and Spurs are a few of the other clubs expected to express interest in Niang, league sources tell HoopsHype.
Despite a report indicating that the Wizards are likely to buy out Danilo Gallinari, the two sides haven’t had any discussions about that possibility yet, per Scotto, who writes that the veteran forward is comfortable with the idea of opening the season in D.C.
According to Scotto, former NBA wing Glenn Robinson III is attempting a comeback, having signed with agent Keith Kreiter and scheduled workouts with a handful of NBA teams in Las Vegas last month. A career 37.3% three-point shooter, Robinson has been out of the league for the last two seasons.
Vin Bhavnani and Mike Batiste are expected to join the Raptors as assistants on Darko Rajakovic‘s new coaching staff, Scotto reports. Bhavnani is a former Thunder assistant, while Batiste was on Stephen Silas‘ staff in Houston last season.

Kyrie Irving Expected To Meet With Suns?

June 29th, 2023 at 6:32pm CST by Luke Adams

6:32pm: John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 disputes Haynes’ report, tweeting that the idea of the Suns meeting with Irving is “absurd” and won’t happen.

12:02pm: After ESPN reported on Wednesday that Kyrie Irving plans to meet with teams when he becomes a free agent on Friday, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report provides more details on Irving’s plans, writing that the star point guard is expected to meet with the Suns in addition to the Mavericks and possibly other teams.

Those meetings will likely take place in Los Angeles, according to Haynes, who hears from sources that the Rockets could seek an audience with Irving as well.

It’s easy to see why Irving would want to set up meetings with potential suitors, even if a return to Dallas appears to be the most likely result of his free agency. The Mavericks may not feel compelled to offer as many years or dollars as Kyrie would like if they believe they’re bidding against themselves.

Still, it’s hard to see how the Suns could emerge as a legitimate threat for Irving unless he’s willing to take a massive pay cut. With Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, and Deandre Ayton owed a combined $163MM in 2023/24, Phoenix’s team salary projects to be above the second tax apron ($182.5MM), which would prevent the club from acquiring a player via sign-and-trade.

Even moving Ayton wouldn’t put the Suns in position to make a competitive sign-and-trade offer from Irving, since a hard cap would limit team salary to about $172MM. Durant, Beal, and Booker will earn a combined $130MM, which would leave just $42MM for Irving and at least 10 other players.

Irving could theoretically sign in Phoenix for the veteran’s minimum, of course, but that’s a highly unlikely outcome for a player whose exit from Brooklyn this past season was reportedly related to the Nets’ reluctance to offer him a big-money, long-term extension.

The Rockets are in better position to make Irving a significant offer, but have been linked more frequently in recent days to another free agent point guard, Fred VanVleet.

According to Haynes, the Mavericks are hoping to get a commitment from Irving early in free agency this weekend, so he can help the team recruit other free agent targets.

Free Agent Rumors: Brown, Mavs, Lakers, Gordon, Yurtseven, Kuzma, Barnes

June 29th, 2023 at 6:30pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Unrestricted free agent Nuggets forward Bruce Brown plans to meet with the Mavericks at the start of free agency on Friday, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).

Many teams appear primed to pursue Brown, according to MacMahon (Twitter link), who anticipates his market to be around the $12.4MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception, if not higher. The Lakers are one suitor said to be confident about their chances. MacMahon adds that Brown may be open to taking a discount to return to the champs, who only have his Non-Bird rights available, which would cap them at a $7.8MM offer for next season.

The 6’4″ vet proved invaluable as a versatile, defense-first sixth man during Denver’s 16-4 run to the title this spring. Across 20 playoff games off the bench, he averaged 12.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.1 SPG and 0.5 BPG.

Here are more of the latest free agent rumors from around the league:

After opting not to retain shooting guard Malik Beasley and center Mohamed Bamba, the Lakers now project to remain well below the $172MM tax apron for 2023/24, which will enable them to use the full $12.4MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN, suggesting that Brown and Brook Lopez will be among Los Angeles’ targets. According to McMenamin (via Twitter), the Lakers may also consider adding more than one player with its mid-level exception money. In that scenario, point guard Dennis Schröder and shooting guard Eric Gordon could be targets, sources tell McMemamin.
Gordon is looking to land with a contender that will have a defined rotation gig for his services, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Beyond the Lakers, sources tell The Athletic that the Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Bucks, Suns, and Trail Blazers have some interest.
After declining to tender a qualifying offer to center Omer Yurtseven, the Heat don’t appear to be focused on trying to re-sign him to a minimum-salary deal, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). “We’re grateful we got a chance to be there,” agent Keith Glass said, per Jackson. “We’ll try to find a place that values him and helps him reach his potential.”
Free agent power forward Kyle Kuzma appears more likely to end up with the Rockets than the Kings, but Sacramento shouldn’t be ruled out entirely as a Kuzma landing spot, per James Ham of Kings Beat. Sources inform Ham that the Kings’ own incumbent free agent starting power forward, Harrison Barnes, is hoping to earn a deal that pays him $20MM annually.

Rockets Waiving Daishen Nix

June 29th, 2023 at 12:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets are waiving guard Daishen Nix, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The move is a money-saving one for the Rockets, who would’ve been on the hook for Nix’s full $1,836,096 salary if he had remained on the roster beyond today, as our list of early salary guarantee dates shows.

Nix, 21, signed with the Rockets after going undrafted in 2021 and appeared in 81 games for the club over the last two seasons. He didn’t make a significant impact at the NBA level during that time, averaging a modest 3.7 PPG and 2.1 APG on .355/.283/.606 shooting in 14.5 MPG.

Nix did flash some potential in the G League in 2021/22, putting up 20.6 PPG, 7.7 APG, and 5.9 RPG on .486/.400/.592 shooting in 18 regular season appearances (34.2 MPG) for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s NBAGL affiliate.

Nix’s contract included a team option for the 2024/25 season, but it was also non-guaranteed, so the Rockets won’t owe him any additional money once they officially waive him. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent if he clears waivers on Saturday.