NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Houston Rockets

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Houston Rockets.

Free agent signings

• Dorian Finney-Smith: Four years, $52,705,000. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year player option (non-guaranteed if exercised). Trade kicker (3.232%). Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
• Fred VanVleet: Two years, $50,000,000. Second-year player option. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
• Clint Capela: Three years, $21,105,000. Trade kicker (5%). Signed using Bird rights and acquired via sign-and-trade from Hawks.
• Jeff Green: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception. Waived right to veto trade.
• Aaron Holiday: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
• Josh Okogie: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
• Jae’Sean Tate: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
• Cameron Matthews: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

• Acquired the draft rights to Mojave King (from Pelicans), the Bulls’ 2026 second-round pick (from Wizards) and the Kings’ 2029 second-round pick (from Wizards) in a three-team trade in exchange for Cam Whitmore (to Wizards).
• Acquired Kevin Durant (from Suns) and Clint Capela (sign-and-trade; from Hawks) in a seven-team trade in exchange for Jalen Green (to Suns), Dillon Brooks (to Suns), David Roddy (two-way; to Hawks), the draft rights to Khaman Maluach (No. 10 pick; to Suns), the draft rights to Jahmai Mashack (No. 59 pick; to Warriors), either the Thunder’s, Mavericks’, or Sixers’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is second-most favorable; to Suns), either the Clippers’ 2026 second-round pick or the most favorable of the Celtics’, Pacers’, and Heat’s 2026 second-round picks (whichever is least favorable; to Nets), the Celtics’ 2030 second-round pick; to Nets), the right to swap 2031 second-round picks (56-60 protected; to Hawks), and cash ($85,300; to Hawks).

Draft picks

• None

Two-way signings

• Isaiah Crawford
  • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
• JD Davison
  • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
• Kevon Harris
  • One year, $25,000 partial guarantee.

Departed/unsigned free agents

• N’Faly Dante (Hawks)
• Jack McVeigh (Cairns Taipans)

Other roster moves

• Signed Jabari Smith Jr. to a five-year, $122,000,000 rookie scale contract extension that begins in 2026/27.
• Signed Steven Adams to a three-year, $39,000 veteran contract extension that begins in 2025/26.
• Waived Jock Landale (non-guaranteed contract).
• Waived Jeenathan Williams (non-guaranteed contract).

Salary cap situation

• Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
• Carrying approximately $194.7MM in salary.
• Hard-capped at $195,945,000.
• Portion of non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($1,404,000) available.
• One traded player exception available ($3,539,760).

The offseason so far

While some blockbuster NBA trades come out of nowhere, there are also plenty that finally get done after weeks – or even months – of rumors and speculation linking a player to a specific team. Anthony Davis being traded to the Lakers falls into the latter category; the deal that eventually sent Davis out of Los Angeles obviously falls into the former group.

The trade that sent Kevin Durant from Phoenix to Houston is another example of one of those long-running rumors that eventually came to fruition. When word broke that Durant was being dealt to Houston, it didn’t come as a shock like February’s Davis/Luka Doncic mega-deal did, because it just made so much sense.

Durant, who was said to be caught off-guard when the Suns discussed him in trade talks at the deadline, was long expected to seek an offseason trade, while the Rockets, armed with the young players and draft picks necessary to get a deal done, had just shown in their postseason loss to Golden State that they badly needed an infusion of offensive firepower.

Durant, even as he enters his age-37 season, is capable of providing just that, having continued to produce at an All-NBA level last season (26.6 points per game on .527/.430/.839 shooting). While he’s no longer the defensive force he was during his prime years, the Rockets will be happy if the 15-time All-Star continues to put up his typical scoring numbers and gives head coach Ime Udoka a reliable bucket-getter who can create his own shot in clutch situations.

The Durant deal between the Suns and Rockets eventually turned into a seven-team monstrosity that folded several separate trade agreements into a single transaction, but there were essentially three crucial outgoing pieces from Houston’s perspective in the Durant portion of the trade: Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and this year’s No. 10 overall pick.

Green’s three-year extension, which begins this year, was practically designed to make him a trade chip. And when he struggled in his first playoff series, scoring no more than 12 points in six of seven games, it sealed his fate. Green will be given an opportunity in Phoenix to make another leap, but the Rockets – eager to take a step toward title contention right now – couldn’t afford to wait to see whether or not that would happen.

Giving up this year’s No. 10 pick also wasn’t a major sacrifice for the Rockets, who had the No. 3 pick a year earlier and ended up barely utilizing the player they selected with it (Reed Sheppard). If Houston had kept its 2025 first-rounder, it would’ve been a tall order for the team’s latest lottery selection to crack the rotation anytime soon.

Of those outgoing pieces, Brooks actually might be the one the Rockets miss the most in the short term. A locker-room leader and a tenacious defender, the forward played an important role in Houston, and the club is unlikely to ask Durant to take on the same defensive assignments that Brooks handled. As a result, going out in free agency and landing another defensive-minded wing capable of guarding high-level perimeter scorers was a priority for the front office.

That search eventually landed with a four-year, $52.7MM commitment to Dorian Finney-Smith that is more team-friendly than it initially looked. Only the first two years of Finney-Smith’s new contract are guaranteed, giving Houston some flexibility to get out of the deal in a year or two if things don’t work out. Still, based on how Finney-Smith helped transform the Lakers’ defense last winter after a mid-season trade sent him from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, there’s no reason to think the wing won’t be an asset for the Rockets.

Houston also used the minimum salary exception to add Josh Okogie, another versatile wing who will give the team energy and defense off the bench.

Having brought back several players from last season’s roster on more team-friendly deals – Fred VanVleet took a pay cut to $25MM, while Aaron Holiday and Jae’Sean Tate re-signed for the minimum – the Rockets still had a little financial flexibility below a first-apron hard cap after agreeing to trade for Durant and striking a deal with Finney-Smith.

Interestingly, Houston used that remaining flexibility below the first apron to acquire Clint Capela via sign-and-trade, incorporating that agreement with Atlanta into the super-sized Durant deal so as not to send out any additional salary.

It was a curious move for a team that already has Alperen Sengun and newly extended backup center Steven Adams in the middle, but after having success with lineups that featured both Sengun and Adams down the stretch last season, the team seems prepared to continue leaning into those bigger looks going forward. Having Capela in the mix as well will give the Rockets more reliable depth up front and more flexibility to mix and match those two-big units.

The Rockets’ other two major transactions of the summer featured first-round picks from 2022 and 2023: the team doubled down on its investment in 2022’s No. 3 overall pick, Jabari Smith Jr., by signing him to a five-year, $122MM extension, but decided to move on from 2023 first-rounder Cam Whitmore, trading him to Washington for a pair of second-round picks.

Whitmore showed off some intriguing scoring upside during his first two NBA seasons, but Smith’s all-around game – including his stout defense – is a better fit for Houston’s roster and for Udoka’s philosophy. Smith’s numbers dipped a little in an injury-shortened 2024/25 season, but there’s reason to believe his game still has more room to grow — he just turned 22 years old in May.

Up next

The Rockets have an opening on their projected 15-man roster, but they don’t have enough room below their hard cap to actually sign a 15th man until January, so their standard roster looks set. Their three two-way contract slots have also been filled, which means their preseason signings and cuts figure to be about securing G League rights and lining up bonuses for Rio Grande Valley Vipers players.

Still, it won’t be a quiet October in Houston. The team has two big contract decisions to make, as both Durant (veteran) and Tari Eason (rookie scale) are eligible to sign extensions.

Since Durant is on an expiring contract, he’ll remain extension-eligible all season long, so there’s not necessarily an urgency to get something done with him before opening night, but it’s frankly a little surprising that the two sides don’t already have an agreement in place. When Durant was on the trade block, Houston was said to be one of the teams he’d be willing to sign an extension with, but the team has seemingly been in no rush to finalize a new contract.

Reports in August indicated that the two sides are still expected to work something out, but that the Rockets may be reluctant to give Durant a maximum-salary deal (roughly $119MM over two years). That would explain the delay and is an understandable position to take, given that a two-year extension would cover KD’s age-38 and -39 seasons.

I’d still expect Houston to put a lucrative offer on the table, but it will be interesting to see whether the team will be willing to guarantee more than one additional season beyond 2025/26. For the sake of comparison, when the Clippers re-signed James Harden in July, they gave him one guaranteed year (for age 36), with a partially guaranteed player option ($13.3MM of $42.3MM) on the second year.

Negotiations with Eason won’t be simple either, especially since the two sides face an October 20 deadline. If no deal is reached by that point, the fourth-year forward will head to restricted free agency in 2026.

Having lost Brooks, the Rockets will probably be relying on Eason to step up and play an increased role in 2025/26, and the 24-year-old has shown real promise as a three-and-D wing. But Houston’s roster is getting increasingly expensive and the team will also have to make a substantial investment in Amen Thompson when he becomes extension-eligible next summer.

The front office will have to be careful about how much it’s prepared to commit to Eason, a solid contributor with untapped potential who still probably isn’t one of the club’s five or six most important players.