The Rockets are diligently working secure meetings with Dorian Finney-Smith, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard when free agency gets underway at 5:00 pm CT, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Houston is viewed as the frontrunner to land Finney-Smith after the veteran forward declined his $15.4MM player option and didn’t immediately work out a new deal with the Lakers. Marc Stein has reported multiple times that the Rockets are prepared to offer the 32-year-old a four-year deal worth most of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Alexander-Walker, meanwhile, is expected to leave Minnesota after the Timberwolves agreed to lucrative new contracts with Naz Reid and Julius Randle. The Hawks have been rumored as the favorite to acquire the versatile guard, but several teams are said to be interested in his services.
Atlanta is also rumored to have interest in Kennard, who is the third-most accurate three-point shooter in NBA history at 43.8%. He has spent the past two-plus seasons in Memphis, but is expected to leave the Grizzlies in free agency.
Here are a few more free agency-related notes and rumors:
- The Knicks could be a suitor for point guard Tyus Jones, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter video link). “Tyus Jones is a name that I’m keeping an eye on,” Begley said. “Last summer, there was mutual interest…Jones was even willing to take a pay cut to come to New York. He ended up choosing Phoenix thinking it would be a very good situation for him — didn’t work out, so he’s back on the market.” New York can likely only offer the taxpayer mid-level exception or the veteran’s minimum, Begley notes.
- The Magic also expressed prior interest in Tyus Jones and he could be a good fit with Orlando depending on how much money he’s seeking in free agency, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic. If it’s not Jones, the Magic will likely look to add a different veteran point guard to improve their shooting and offense, Robbins writes.
- Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald released a guide for some of the options the Heat could explore in free agency. According to Chiang, guard Dru Smith is expected to return to Miami on a two-way deal after he was issued a two-way qualifying offer, but he has yet to accept that QO. Smith was on the verge of being promoted to a standard contract last season before suffering a torn Achilles tendon in late December.
- As of now, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca expects the Raptors to be “fairly quiet” in free agency (Twitter link). Toronto will likely fill out the end of its roster with minimum-salary deals. A veteran extension for starting center Jakob Poeltl remains a possibility as well, Grange adds.
- Zach Kram of ESPN.com lists seven “underrated players” who are about to hit the open market, including Chris Boucher, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Trent Jr.
How many forwards are Houston planning to play at the same time? KD, Jabari, Tari, Ja’Sean Tate & now DoDo? Let’s hope they don’t bring in another one in the upcoming Cam Whitmore trade.
Depends on how you see basketball, what you mean by a guard (lead guard, combo guard, point guard, shooting guard), a wing (swingman, guard-forward), a forward (small forward, power forward, point forward, centre forward). In other languages, other terminology is used.
One could argue that OKC play without a point guard, don’t have one at all in their 15-man squad, and they don’t miss that kind of player.
Personally, I see a good team composition when there are 3 players on the court who in English are most commonly called a small forward and a power forward, even though I prefer a different terminology.
Ty Jones was a true target for the NYK last year (and I believe he could have gotten 1, 2 or 3 years at the Txp-MLE). He, understandably, chose PHX for vet minimum and a chance to be a starter. NYK then pivoted to Payne.
This year, though, it’s different. Kolek should be ready to be the primary backup PG, and he’s signed for 3 years, on a team friendly deal they need (he’s not being traded). I’m sure the NYK still like Jones, but they can’t make him the same priority as he was last year.
If they had used the taxpayer midlevel the KAT trade wouldn’t have been possible. I’m not sure if your idea was ever one the Knicks entertained.
They did more than entertain it, they sought it out (it was their idea not mine, I just read about it). As was the case with every other decision they made that off season, they didn’t know about a possible KAT trade at the time. That happened close to the start of the season.
They still could have done the KAT trade, it just would have required some different ancillary pieces, and might have needed to wait until Dec 15th.
Reports now have DFS leaving to Hou on a 4 yr deal
Hou is looking stacked for next year
% rising by the hr of an actual LBJ trade happening this summer
Not big on capitulation, but, at this point, that trade would be best for all parties. It’s never been easy for a team in then LAL’s spot to retool for a renewed win-now playoff run every year. But in the environment created by the new CBAs, it’s ridiculously hard. Add to that doing the Luka deal, it’s just too much. They had to do the Luka deal for the future, but it utilized potential win-now resources, when there wasn’t nearly enough of those to start with.
Here’s to hoping its a fork in the road moment and they are choosing to divorce (amicably-ish)
Agreed, not enough was in the tank, time to hit the fuel station
Long as Lukas on board I think re-tool 2026 is ultimately the best direction rather than taking a swing. That correlates with the call not to give a 32 yr old DFS 4 years, Im cool w the logic in it if its a plan (and I kinda hope it is)