Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rockets Sign Armoni Brooks To Exhibit 10 Contract

August 27th, 2021 at 5:38pm CST by JD Shaw

5:38pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

12:41pm: The Rockets are signing guard Armoni Brooks to an Exhibit 10 contract, a source confirmed to Hoops Rumors. News of the agreement was first reported by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

Brooks, 23, will have the opportunity to make the team’s regular-season roster in training camp this fall. He spent 20 games with the club at the end of last season, averaging 11.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

The Rockets have one final spot for camp and could consider adding Anthony Lamb, who signed a two-way contract with the team last March. Both Brooks and Lamb played summer league with Houston in Las Vegas after receiving two-way qualifying offers.

Should Brooks not make the regular-season roster, he’d be eligible to receive a bonus up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days with Houston’s G League affiliate.

Rockets Sign Daishen Nix, Tyler Bey To Exhibit 10 Deals

August 25th, 2021 at 10:18am CST by Eli Cohen

AUGUST 25: The Rockets have officially signed both Nix and Bey, the team announced today in a press release.

AUGUST 24: The Rockets have agreed to Exhibit 10 training camp deals with undrafted rookie Daishen Nix and 2020 second-round pick Tyler Bey, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.

Nix was a highly-ranked point guard prospect before joining the G League Ignite last season, where he showcased impressive passing instincts and size, but struggled with his shot. He averaged 8.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 5.3 APG in 26.5 MPG with the Ignite, but shot just .384/.176/.714.

Nix played Summer League with the Sixers, averaging 5.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 1.8 APG and 1.6 SPG in just 11.5 MPG, but only connected on one-of-five three-point attempts in over 57 total minutes.

Bey was selected with the 36th pick in the 2020 draft by the Sixers and was included in the deal that sent Josh Richardson to the Mavericks for Seth Curry. Bey only played 18 games with the Mavs, and averaged just 3.9 minutes a game in those 18 contests, though he recorded 15.1 PPG and 9.2 RPG in the G League.

The Rockets have no shortage of guards on their roster, but few true point guards, especially if the team is able to move one or both of John Wall or D.J. Augustin, so there’s a chance Nix could find a home if he proves himself in training camp. However, both players face steep competition on a roster full of young, hungry prospects. Unless one earns a two-way contract, they’re more likely to end up playing for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s G League affiliate.

Rockets Notes: Green, Sengun, Wall, Weaver

August 20th, 2021 at 11:03am CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets liked what they saw from Jalen Green in Summer League play, and their excitement goes beyond his statistics, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The No. 2 overall pick averaged 20.3 PPG and shot 51.4% from the floor (52.6% from three-point range) in his first two games before getting shut down after reporting hamstring tightness midway through the third game.

Coaches were impressed by Green’s decision making when the Pistons threw traps at him after he crossed half court. Green made the right reads and got the ball where it was supposed to go, rather than focusing on a one-on-one battle with No. 1 selection Cade Cunningham.

“It’s exciting to see him up and close and personal in a Rockets uniform,” coach Stephen Silas said. “Jalen out there making exciting plays but doing it within the context of how we do things.”

There’s more from Houston:

All four of the Rockets’ first-round picks looked like legitimate prospects during their first Summer League experience, Feigen adds. Usman Garuba and Josh Christopher may be sent to the G League to get playing time, but Alperen Sengun appears ready to contribute with the NBA team. Feigen notes that Sengun, the MVP of the Turkish League last season, displayed an advanced understanding of the game in Las Vegas.
The youth movement in Houston raises questions about the future of John Wall, who will be 31 when the season begins, per Rahat Huq of The Houston Chronicle. Wall had a 31.6 usage percentage last season and figures to have a similar role as long as he remains with the team. There has been speculation of a possible buyout with Wall, who will make $44.3MM this year and has a $47.4MM player option for 2022/23, but the organization’s best move may be to rebuild his value and try to trade him next summer.
Summer League coach Will Weaver talks about giving players their first NBA experience, plus several other topics, in an interview with Kelly Iko of The Athletic.

Lamb Hopes To Get Standard Contract

August 18th, 2021 at 7:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Rockets have made a two-way qualifying offer to Anthony Lamb but he hopes that he proved in summer league play he deserves a standard contract, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. “Hopefully, I convince them I deserve more,” Lamb said. He averaged 7.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 1.8 APG and played strong defense in five outings at Las Vegas.

Jalen Green Wanted To Be No. 1 Pick But “Didn’t Want To Be In Detroit”

August 16th, 2021 at 2:34pm CST by Luke Adams

Jalen Green only worked out for two teams, the Pistons and Rockets, leading up to the 2021 NBA draft and was hoping to be the first prospect off the board on July 29. However, while he sought the honor of being the No. 1 pick, Green wasn’t enthusiastic about the idea of beginning his NBA career in Michigan, he tells Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

“I wanted to be the No. 1 pick, but as for the location, I didn’t want to be in Detroit,” Green said. “I felt a lot more comfortable in Houston. It felt like a real homey environment.

“With Detroit, it felt like I was just going back to the G League bubble, and I just got out of the bubble. That’s pretty much what it was,” continued Green, who played for the G League Ignite at Walt Disney World last winter. “In the bubble, I didn’t really have anything to do but just stay in the gym. I didn’t have any time to get away for myself. The only time I had to get away for myself was in my apartment. That’s what it felt like in Detroit. I wouldn’t be stepping outside in Detroit. There are not many things you can do in Detroit like that. You’re going to stay in the gym and then go back to your apartment.”

Green, of course, was drafted by the Rockets with the No. 2 pick after the Pistons used the first overall selection to nab Cade Cunningham. If Green had been the Pistons’ pick, it’s probably safe to assume his comments to Haynes about Detroit would sound a little different.

By contrast, Cunningham had nothing but praise for the city of Detroit following his pre-draft visit with the Pistons, telling reporters that he appreciated Michiganders’ “underdog, go-get-what-you-want” mentality.

Green, clearly not concerned about endearing himself to Pistons fans, is out to prove the team made a mistake by passing on him. As Haynes relays, the Rockets rookie is looking to beat out Cunningham and the rest of the 2021 draft class to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award in 2021/22.

“I need it. I feel like I’m the best player in the class,” Green told Yahoo Sports. “I didn’t go No. 1, so I’m going to go get the Rookie of the Year.”

Rockets Sign Usman Garuba To Rookie Contract

August 16th, 2021 at 12:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Spanish big man Usman Garuba has officially signed his rookie contract with the Rockets, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

Garuba had been the last of this year’s 30 first-round picks who remained unsigned. The process was held up a little due to the fact that he was participating in the Tokyo Olympics and had to finalize a buyout agreement with Real Madrid, his team in Spain.

[RELATED: 2021 NBA Draft Pick Signings]

As a result of that team-friendly buyout, Garuba owes Real Madrid in excess of two million Euros, but will be able to pay it off in installments. He should more than make up that amount in the NBA based on the terms of his rookie deal. Assuming he signed for the standard 120% of the rookie scale, Garuba will earn $2.35MM as a rookie and $11.81MM over the course of four seasons.

Garuba, 19, had been a member of Real Madrid since 2017 and was a regular part of the team’s rotation in 2020/21. He was named the ACB Best Young Player and received the EuroLeague Rising Star award, then was one of four prospects selected by Houston in this first round of the 2021 draft.

The No. 23 overall pick, Garuba joins Jalen Green (No. 2), Alperen Sengun (No. 16), and Josh Christopher (No. 24) to make up the Rockets’ promising 2021 draft class.

Armoni Brooks Returns From Protocols; Rookies Bring Breath Of Fresh Air

August 15th, 2021 at 9:16pm CST by JD Shaw

Rockets guard Armoni Brooks has returned from the league’s health and safety protocols, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. Brooks is playing summer league with Houston, coming off a strong 20-game stint with the team last season.
The Rockets‘ rookies have brought a breath of fresh air this month, Feigen writes in a separate article for the Houston Chronicle. The team’s rookie class is led by No. 2 pick Jalen Green, who had an impressive summer league stint before getting shut down due to hamstring soreness.

NBA Teams With Hard Caps For 2021/22

August 12th, 2021 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing every team to surpass the $112,414,000 threshold once their cap room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury-tax line of $136,606,000 as well — the Nets and Warriors, for instance, project to have nine-figure tax bills this season as a result of their spending.

The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows clubs like Brooklyn and Golden State to build a significant payroll without violating CBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped, as we explain in a glossary entry.

When a club uses the bi-annual exception, acquires a player via sign-and-trade, or uses more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception (three years, starting at $5,890,000), that club will face a hard cap for the remainder of the league year.

When a team becomes hard-capped, it cannot exceed the “tax apron” at any point during the rest of the league year. The tax apron for 2021/22 was set at $143,002,000.

So far, over a third of the teams in the NBA have been willing to hard-cap themselves this offseason. Some teams will have to be aware of that hard cap when they consider any roster move for the rest of the season, but for others it’s just a technicality that won’t affect their plans.

Listed below are the hard-capped teams for the 2021/22 league year, along with how they created a hard cap.

Chicago Bulls

Acquired Lonzo Ball from Pelicans via sign-and-trade.
Acquired DeMar DeRozan from Spurs via sign-and-trade.
Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Alex Caruso.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Acquired Lauri Markkanen from Bulls via sign-and-trade.

Dallas Mavericks

Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Reggie Bullock.
Used bi-annual exception on Sterling Brown.

Houston Rockets

Acquired Daniel Theis from Bulls via sign-and-trade.

Miami Heat

Acquired Kyle Lowry from Raptors via sign-and-trade.
Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on P.J. Tucker.

New Orleans Pelicans

Acquired Devonte’ Graham from Hornets via sign-and-trade.
Acquired Garrett Temple from Bulls via sign-and-trade.

New York Knicks

Acquired Evan Fournier from Celtics via sign-and-trade.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.

San Antonio Spurs

Acquired Doug McDermott from Pacers via sign-and-trade.

Toronto Raptors

Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Khem Birch.

Washington Wizards

Acquired Spencer Dinwiddie from Nets via sign-and-trade.
Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Isaiah Todd.

This list, which could continue to grow, will continue to be updated throughout the 2021/22 league year as necessary. It can be found anytime in the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site, or in the “Features” menu on our mobile site.

Contract Details: Clippers, THT, Ball, Nwaba, Bembry, Raptors

August 10th, 2021 at 2:52pm CST by Luke Adams

After reporting over the weekend that the Clippers used about $3.9MM of their taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Justise Winslow, ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Instagram video) confirmed today that the team used the leftover portion of that MLE to sign second-round picks Jason Preston and Brandon Boston Jr. to three-year deals, with Preston getting a little more than the rookie minimum.

Keith Smith of Spotrac shares those salary figures down to the dollar, tweeting that Winslow’s first-year salary is $3,902,439 while Preston’s is $1,062,303. Combined with Boston’s rookie minimum of $925,258, those three salaries add up to exactly $5.89MM, the amount of the taxpayer mid-level exception.

Here are a few more details on new contracts from around the NBA:

While Talen Horton-Tucker‘s three-year deal with the Lakers was initially said to be worth $32MM, the year-by-year breakdown provided by Smith works out to a total of $30.78MM (Twitter link).
Lonzo Ball‘s four-year deal with the Bulls also came in slightly lower than expected, according to Smith, who says it has a base value of $80MM, with $1MM in annual unlikely incentives (Twitter link).
David Nwaba‘s three-year, $15MM contract with the Rockets has two fully guaranteed seasons followed by a third-year team option, according to Marks (Instagram video).
DeAndre’ Bembry‘s minimum-salary deal with the Nets has a partial guarantee of $750K for now, tweets Smith. That number will increase to $1.25MM on December 15 before becoming fully guaranteed in January.
Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter links) shares some Raptors contract details, reporting that Gary Trent Jr.‘s deal has a base value of $51.84MM, with $250K in annual unlikely incentives. Murphy adds that Ishmail Wainright got a $250K guarantee in 2021/22 – plus a $125K guarantee in ’22/23 – on his minimum-salary contract, while Yuta Watanabe‘s minimum-salary deal is now partially guaranteed for $375K. Watanabe would get his full guarantee if he makes the regular season roster.

Rockets First-Rounder Garuba Reaches Buyout Agreement With Real Madrid

August 10th, 2021 at 8:25am CST by Luke Adams

Spanish big man Usman Garuba has reached a buyout agreement with Real Madrid that will allow him to get out of his contract with the Spanish club and join the Rockets for the 2021/22 season, according to a report from Jose Luis Martinez of Marca.com (hat tip to Sportando).

As we relayed last month, Garuba’s NBA buyout clause with Real Madrid was said to be worth three million Euros and would have become even more expensive in future years.

An NBA team can contribute to a player’s buyout with his international club, but only up to $775K (approximately €655K). That meant that if Garuba wanted to make the leap to the NBA right away after being selected with the No. 23 pick in the 2021 draft, most of the buyout would have to come out of his own pocket.

According to Martinez, Garuba and Real Madrid – who had the big man under contract through at least 2024 – agreed to a deal that will allow him to pay off the rest of his buyout in installments.

Garuba, 19, has been a member of Real Madrid since 2017 and was a regular part of the team’s rotation in 2020/21. He was named the ACB Best Young Player and also received the EuroLeague Rising Star award, then missed the 2021 draft because he was representing Spain at the Tokyo Olympics.

Assuming Garuba plays out his full rookie scale contract with the Rockets, he’ll ultimately come out ahead despite having to send a sizable chunk of his salary back to Real Madrid. As our breakdown shows, he projects to earn about $11.8MM over the course of the four-year NBA deal.

Once they officially sign Garuba, the Rockets will have all four of their first-round picks under contract. Jalen Green (No. 2), Alperen Sengun (No. 16), and Josh Christopher (No. 24) have already signed.