Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

LeBron James Won’t Exercise Player Option

June 29th, 2018 at 9:42am CST by Luke Adams

LeBron James‘ agent Rich Paul has informed the Cavaliers that James won’t exercise his $35.61MM player option for the 2018/19 season, reports Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. As a result, James will reach the open market as an unrestricted free agent this Sunday.

While the move ensures that James will be free to sign with any team that can afford him next week, his decision isn’t necessarily bad news for the Cavaliers. LeBron’s only realistic path to joining certain over-the-cap teams would have been via an opt-in and trade. Becoming an unrestricted free agent will make it extremely challenging for potential suitors like the Rockets or Heat to find a way to acquire him.

James’ decision looks like good news for teams with cap room, such as the Lakers and Sixers, who will have the opportunity to sign the four-time MVP outright. Los Angeles could have enough cap space for two maximum-salary free agents, while Philadelphia would have to make a roster move or two – likely involving Jerryd Bayless – to create the room necessary to offer LeBron a maximum-salary contract, which is currently projected to start at $35.35MM.

As for the Cavs, they remain in the mix for James since they hold his Bird rights, which allow them to go over the cap – and into the tax – to re-sign their star forward. Cleveland is the only team eligible to offer LeBron a five-year contract, which would be worth a projected $205MM+. James could sign a four-year contract with another team, though in recent years he has shown a preference for shorter-term deals that allow him to maximize his flexibility.

With James now on track to officially become a free agent on Sunday, the real fun is set to begin. The Lakers and Sixers, LeBron’s top two non-Cleveland suitors, are said to be considering strong pushes to acquire Kawhi Leonard from the Spurs. While San Antonio won’t rush into a deal involving Leonard, L.A. and Philadelphia reportedly believe that trading for Leonard would improve their chances of winning the LeBron sweepstakes, so both teams could be aggressive in the coming days.

For what it’s worth, Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports reported on Thursday that Leonard has reached out to James to express interest in playing alongside him. According to Schultz, Kawhi pointed out that his defensive ability would alleviate the pressure on LeBron on that end of the court.

Even if the Lakers don’t land Leonard, the team’s cap flexibility makes L.A. an intriguing landing spot for LeBron, with Vardon reporting that James’ interest in joining the Lakers is “strong.” The Lakers are considered a serious suitor for free agent forward Paul George, and have a strong young core of players if they want to target another veteran star in a trade.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rockets Exercise Team Option On Aaron Jackson

June 29th, 2018 at 8:24am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have picked up their team option on Aaron Jackson, keeping him on the roster for now, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.

Jackson, 32, signed with the Rockets on the last day of the 2017/18 regular season and made his NBA debut in Houston’s regular-season finale. Jackson played 35 minutes in that contest, scoring eight points and grabbing three rebounds.

Although Jackson’s contract with the Rockets included a team option for 2018/19, his $1,378,242 salary remains non-guaranteed even now that the option has been exercised. Keeping the veteran guard around gives Houston a few more trade options — if the Rockets need to include him in a trade to match salaries, his salary would become guaranteed. Otherwise, he’ll likely be released at some point before the team is on the hook for his salary.

Because he can’t be traded within three months of his signing, Jackson will become trade-eligible after July 11.

While it’s not clear while Jackson will ultimately spend next season, a return to the EuroLeague seems unlikely. Jackson, who spent several seasons with CSKA Moscow, tweeted this week that he doesn’t have interest in returning to Europe due to the “10-month season” there (hat tip to Sportando).

Mavs Looking To Acquire DeAndre Jordan

June 28th, 2018 at 1:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JUNE 28, 1:42pm: Jordan is the Mavericks’ primary target as free agency approaches, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. According to MacMahon, if a trade agreement can’t be reached and the veteran center declines his option, Dallas plans to pursue him aggressively as a free agent. The interest between Jordan and the Mavs is mutual, sources tell MacMahon.

JUNE 27, 9:28pm: The Mavericks are engaged in talks with the Clippers to acquire center DeAndre Jordan this week, sources told Marc Stein of the New York Times.

This is a case of forgive and forget, as Jordan notoriously backed out on a free-agent deal with Dallas during the summer of 2015 to stay in L.A.

Jordan has a Friday night deadline to decide whether to exercise his $24.1MM player option for next season. If he opts in, Dallas can trade for him before free agency begins on Sunday. Swingman Wesley Matthews and his $18.6MM contract would likely be the centerpiece of any offer, according to Stein.

If Jordan opts out, Dallas could pursue him in free agency along with two other centers, unrestricted free agent DeMarcus Cousins and restricted free agent Clint Capela.

The Clippers have granted permission to Jordan and agent Jeff Schwartz to explore trade scenarios with other teams. It’s a similar scenario to All-Star guard Chris Paul opting in with the team and then getting traded to the Rockets last summer.

Dallas passed on drafting a big man last Thursday and instead made a deal with the Hawks for EuroLeague guard Luka Doncic.

Trevor Ariza To Line Up Meetings With Suitors

June 28th, 2018 at 8:33am CST by Luke Adams

Rockets forward Trevor Ariza will reach unrestricted free agency on Sunday, and he plans to schedule meetings with interested teams starting on July 1, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

Ariza, who turns 33 on Saturday, averaged 11.7 PPG and 4.4 RPG with a .368 3PT% in 67 regular-season games for the Rockets. While his season ended on a low note following an 0-for-12 shooting performance in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, the veteran played a key role in Houston, knocking down corner threes and playing excellent perimeter defense.

The Rockets will have to make a number of decisions in free agency in the coming days, as Chris Paul and Clint Capela are up for lucrative new deals. General manager Daryl Morey also figures to explore ways to upgrade the roster further, with LeBron James atop the club’s list of targets.

With so many moving parts in play, the Rockets will have to be careful not to overlook Ariza, who figures to draw interest from a number of contending teams in need of a three-and-D wing.

According to Charania, there’s no truth to a report that Ariza will demand a $50-60MM payday as a free agent. However, I expect the 14-year veteran to do well on the open market — his free agency could resemble Andre Iguodala‘s a year ago, when several teams tried to pry Iguodala away from Golden State and the swingman leveraged that interest into a lucrative new deal.

Paul George Declining Player Option

June 28th, 2018 at 7:23am CST by Luke Adams

Paul George has informed the Thunder that he’ll turn down his player option for 2018/19 and will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The move had long been anticipated. While it might make sense in some cases for veterans to opt into the final year of their contracts, George’s $20,703,384 option salary is far below his projected $30MM+ maximum salary, so picking up the option would have made little financial sense.

Additionally, the Lakers and Thunder are widely considered the frontrunners to land George. Los Angeles will have the cap space to sign George outright, while Oklahoma City has his Bird rights and can go over the cap to sign him. As such, exercising the option to facilitate a trade was always a long shot for the star forward.

While the Lakers and Thunder are the most serious contenders for George, the Rockets and Sixers are interested in pursuing him too, sources tell Wojnarowski. The Cavaliers were also previously said to be interested in George. However, his option decision will make it tricky for over-the-cap teams like Houston and Cleveland to land him, since those teams don’t have easy paths to cap room, and a sign-and-trade deal would only be permitted if they’re willing to remain below the tax apron ($6MM above the tax line) all season.

George is eligible to sign a five-year contract worth a projected $175MM+ with the Thunder this offseason, or a four-year deal worth approximately $130MM with a rival suitor like the Lakers. The five-time All-Star may ultimately sign a one-plus-one contract (a two-year deal with a player option) though, since doing so would allow him to reach free agency again in 2019, when the cap is projected to increase to $108MM.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rockets Pick Up D’Antoni’s Option Year

June 27th, 2018 at 9:04pm CST by Dana Gauruder

9:04pm: The decision to pick up D’Antoni’s option is official, the team tweets.

6:00pm: The Rockets have picked up the option year on head coach Mike D’Antoni‘s contract, which guarantees the deal through the 2019/20 season, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets.

D’Antoni originally signed a three year, $15MM contract with a fourth-year team option when he was named Houston’s head coach in June 2016.

D’Antoni has enjoyed a career revival of sorts with the Rockets. His reputation took a hit after stints with the Knicks and Lakers went sour. He found work as Brett Brown’s associate head coach for two seasons before the Rockets gave him another shot to be a head man.

It turned out to be a wise decision. D’Antoni was named the NBA Coach of the Year last summer after the team won 55 regular-season games and reached the Western Conference semifinals. The Rockets had the league’s best record this season at 65-17, then came up one win shy of the Finals during the conference finals, an outcome that might have changed if Chris Paul hadn’t missed the last two games against the Warriors with a hamstring injury.

Rockets Bought No. 52 Pick For $1.5MM

June 27th, 2018 at 12:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders has the details on a couple trades that went down on draft night, reporting that the Rockets bought the No. 52 overall pick from the Jazz for $1.5MM and the Trail Blazers sent the Kings $1.5MM in their deal for Gary Trent Jr.‘s draft rights (Twitter links).

Morey Not Close To A Trade On Draft Night

June 26th, 2018 at 7:14pm CST by clarkcrum

Per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Rockets’ general manager Daryl Morey said the team wasn’t really close to making a deal to move up in last week’s NBA Draft, but that there was an opportunity to move into the No. 20 to No. 25 range.

Rockets Remain ‘All In’ On Pursuing LeBron James

June 26th, 2018 at 12:59pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets are still “all in” on the idea of pursuing LeBron James this summer, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Sam Amick of USA Today. Amick suggests Houston may be a long shot for James, but makes it clear that the team hasn’t given up on the idea by any means.

The Lakers and Cavaliers have increasingly been cited as the most likely landing spots for James, with at least one report suggesting that Houston might not be a great fit for LeBron from a family perspective. For his part, the four-time MVP has been mum on his decision, so it remains unclear which teams have a realistic shot to land him.

From an on-court perspective, the Rockets make a lot of sense as a potential LeBron destination. His good friend Chris Paul is considered very likely to re-sign in Houston, and the team came within one win of knocking off the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. Additionally, GM Daryl Morey is known for trying to find creative ways to acquire any star he can, as he did a year ago with CP3.

However, it wouldn’t be easy for the Rockets to land James. If LeBron exercises his player option for 2018/19, a trade to Houston is a possibility. If he turns down that option though, the Rockets won’t have the cap space to sign him outright, and landing him a sign-and-trade would only be plausible if team salary remains below the tax apron all year long, which would be extremely tricky for a club that wants to re-sign Paul and Clint Capela.

June 29 will be the next date to watch for James — that’s the deadline for him to pick up or decline his option.

Rockets Propose Flipping Draft, Free Agency On NBA Calendar

June 26th, 2018 at 12:26pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA draft took place last Thursday night, with free agency set to open this coming Sunday. However, a proposal put forth by the Rockets to the league’s competition committee in April suggests that the NBA should consider flipping those two big events on its offseason calendar in the future.

As Zach Lowe of ESPN.com details, the idea of having free agency open before the draft takes place – which the NFL already does – has the support of a number of executives around the NBA, including several prominent general managers. However, it had never been formally put on the table until the Rockets proposed it this spring.

“As a staff, we have been kicking this around for a couple of summers now,” said Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, who presented the idea to the league’s competition committee. “Is there a better way?”

Lowe’s piece, which is worth checking out in full, lays out a handful of reasons why it might make sense to flip the order of free agency and the draft. For one, teams could be better positioned to address positional needs in free agency and then draft the best player available.

A new-look calendar also might help stimulate trade activity during the draft — under the current system, clubs are often hesitant to complete deals in June that compromise their cap outlook prior to the start of free agency.

Additionally, under the current format, teams that miss out on top free agent targets often panic and give big contracts to lesser players in order to use their cap space. If the draft took place after free agency, teams who don’t sign their top targets could preserve cap room for potential draft-night trades.

According to Lowe, it’s not clear exactly what Houston’s proposal looks like. It may involve opening free agency in late June, with a draft around July 10 and the start of Summer League about a week after that. Lowe suggests that people around the NBA are worried about pushing events back into August, which is typically a quiet period on the league’s calendar — however, he notes that the Rockets’ proposal addresses that issue by including a two-week window in late August and early September in which no team would be allowed to complete any transactions. In other words, execs would still get a little vacation time.

While it’s unlikely that the NBA will make any significant changes to its offseason calendar anytime soon, Houston’s proposal is one worth keeping an eye on in the long term.