TyTy Washington

And-Ones: Big3, Schedule, Washington, National Games

August 19th, 2023 at 10:45am CST by Earnest Marshall

The basketball world never sleeps, even in the NBA’s offseason. While we’re between NBA seasons, several other leagues and competitions are coming down the stretch of their respective seasons. From the WNBA season to the 2023 FIBA World Cup, basketball is in no shortage. The Big3 is one such league that enjoys its seasons during the summer, a 3×3 league where numerous retired NBA players square off.

The Big3 has continued to grow since 2017, adding partnerships and viewers year after year. However, the league has had a rocky relationship with the NBA. As The Athletic’s Jason Jones writes, Ice Cube, the league’s CEO and founder, has said on multiple occasions that the NBA has little to no interest in investing in the product.

According to Cube, he and business partner Jeff Kwatinetz asked the NBA to become business partners in 2017.

“We have been supportive of the Big3 since its inception, but we declined to invest,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said to The Athletic.

Cube sees several opportunities for the two leagues to coincide, with the Big3 offering a chance to help develop players according to Cube. The relationship between the two leagues isn’t completely shattered, with the Big3 playing games in NBA arenas, but Cube still wants to continue building a partnership with the NBA.

Jones writes that while the Big3 doesn’t see itself as a direct competitor to the NBA, the thought of any potential conflict between the two leagues has prevented some NBA investors in putting money into the Big3. Cube said that his league has historically performed better on CBS than more established sports leagues but is dismayed at the lack of media attention the league gets. He also said the NBA discourages such coverage and support for his league, according to Jones.

“Those claims are not true,” Bass said.

Jones notes that Cube has experience working with other professional sports leagues, as he’s working with the NFL. The NFL partnered with Cube’s Contract With Black America Institute to increase economic equity and partnerships with Black-owned businesses.

According to Jones, Cube wants to continue expanding the Big3 to a point where it can put teams in cities and has teams controlled by their own ownership groups.

Cube has been encouraged by the support of some NBA players for his league, such as Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown. Still, Cube also wants to see more players continue to vocalize their support for the Big3.

“I would love to see more of them on board, more current NBA players who already have a name in hoops,” Cube said. “But if not, we’ll be here when they want to play.”

I recommend reading the piece by Jones in full. There are several interesting tidbits about the growth of the league that features retired NBA players such as Joe Johnson, Michael Beasley and Jason Richardson.

There are other notes from around the basketball world:

More planning goes into developing the NBA’s regular season schedule – released earlier this week – than meets the eye. The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov interviewed Evan Wasch, the NBA’s executive VP of basketball strategy and analytics, about the making of the schedule (podcast link). Wasch discussed numerous aspects of the NBA’s game calendar including the new in-season tournament, calculating rest days and rotating opponent matchups. Wasch said that his team of schedule-makers started with the Christmas games as an anchor point and worked backward from there.
The Thunder waived TyTy Washington Jr. on Friday, but The Athletic’s John Hollinger believes some team should take a hard look at signing the 21-year-old point guard (Twitter link). Washington was the No. 29 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft and appeared in 31 games last year with Houston, averaging 4.7 points. However, Washington played well in the G League, averaging 23.1 points and 6.1 assists to lead Houston’s G League affiliate Rio Grande Valley Vipers to the 2023 NBA G League Finals. Hollinger doesn’t see a team placing a waiver claim on Washington, since clubs could get more favorable contract terms by signing him to a minimum deal. Still, Hollinger thinks Washington would be a good fit on a rebuilding team or a team with an extra roster spot that could afford to develop him.
The Athletic’s Mike Prada put out a list of every team’s national TV games for the ’23/24 schedule (Twitter link). Prada notes that the Warriors lead the way with 28 national TV games while the Hornets, Pistons, Rockets, Pacers, Magic, Trail Blazers, Raptors and Wizards all have just one apiece. The Lakers, Suns and Celtics join Golden State as teams with 25 or more national TV games. It’s important to note that Prada’s count doesn’t include NBA TV games.

Thunder Waive TyTy Washington Jr.

August 18th, 2023 at 2:23pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have waived guard TyTy Washington Jr., the team announced today. Washington will clear waivers and become a free agent on Sunday, assuming he goes unclaimed.

The 29th overall pick in the 2022 draft, Washington appeared in 31 games as a rookie with the Rockets last season, averaging 4.7 points, 1.5 assists, and 1.5 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per night. He put up an underwhelming shooting line of .363/.238/.556 in those 31 games.

The former Kentucky standout was more effective at the G League level, averaging 23.0 PPG, 6.0 APG, and 4.6 RPG in 18 Showcase Cup and regular season games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. However, he still struggled to score efficiently, making 44.2% of his shot attempts from the field and just 31.7% from beyond the three-point line.

The Rockets, apparently viewing Washington as expendable with so many other promising young players on their roster, included him as an outgoing salary-matching piece in the five-team trade that sent Dillon Brooks to Houston via sign-and-trade. The 21-year-old was sent to Atlanta in that deal, then was flipped to Oklahoma City in a salary-dump trade that made Patty Mills a Hawk.

Washington had been a long shot to make the Thunder’s roster, since the team was carrying 20 players on standard contracts and needed to trade or waive at least five of those players before opening night. The fact that OKC has already cut Washington – who was owed a guaranteed $2.32MM salary in 2023/24 – suggests there were no good options for him on the trade market.

While it’s not out of the question that a team will claim Washington on waivers, it seems unlikely, given his negative trade value this summer. A club interested in placing a claim would need to have cap room or a trade exception available to absorb his salary, which eliminates much of the league.

Assuming Washington becomes a free agent, the Thunder would owe him his 2023/24 salary but would be off the hook for the $2.43MM and $4.39MM team options on his contract for ’24/25 and ’25/26. Washington would be eligible for a standard contract with any team except Atlanta and a two-way deal with any team except the Hawks or Thunder.

Oklahoma City now has 20 players under contract — 16 on guaranteed salaries, three (Jack White, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Joe) on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deals, and Keyontae Johnson on a two-way pact.

Northwest Notes: Yurtseven, Edwards, Thunder, Simons

August 13th, 2023 at 12:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Omer Yurtseven tells Semih Tuna of Eurohoops that he received interest from two Turkish teams before deciding to sign with the Jazz last month. The 25-year-old center, who spent his first two seasons with Miami, said he wants to try to establish himself in the NBA before giving consideration to playing in his native country.

“Fenerbahce and Anadolu Efes were interested,” Yurtseven said. “Fenerbahce is my home, and I also love Erdem Can, my former coach, but even if I wanted to come here towards the end of my career, now is not the time.”

Yurtseven, who is spending this summer with the Turkish national team, became an unrestricted free agent when the Heat opted not to give him a qualifying offer. He had a promising rookie year, but was limited to nine games last season after undergoing ankle surgery. He’s happy to get a chance to start over in Utah.

“Having coach Will Hardy at Utah Jazz, playing with Europeans in significant positions, and being a young team, I couldn’t see any negatives, so it was an easy choice among my top three preferences,” Yurtseven said.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

Anthony Edwards believes the Timberwolves would been much better if not for a calf injury that forced Karl-Anthony Towns to miss most of the season, per Sam Yip of HoopsHype. “I think if we get KAT for a whole season, we’ll be all right,” Edwards said. He added that the trade for Mike Conley in February brought a much-needed veteran presence to the team and expressed delight that Minnesota was able to reach an extension with Naz Reid.
In a mailbag column, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman projects the Thunder‘s 15-man roster for opening night. Mussatto expects Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Jack White, TyTy Washington and Victor Oladipo to all be waived at some point.
Anfernee Simons expressed support for Trail Blazers teammate Damian Lillard to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian (Twitter link). Asked what it would be like to lose his mentor in a potential trade, Simons responded, “A lot of people ask me that question all the time, obviously, like what’s going on with Dame. I say, ‘They say he asked for a trade, he asked for a trade.’ That was it. Obviously, me and Dame have a close relationship. I’m always going to support him no matter what.”

Western Notes: Jackson, Smart, Hughes, Pokusevski, Thunder

July 28th, 2023 at 9:59pm CST by Rory Maher

Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., the NBA’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, says he’s excited to team up with Marcus Smart, who won the award in 2022, writes Jerry Jiang of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Smart was acquired from the Celtics last month in a three-team trade, and Jackson reached out to him when the news broke.

“That doesn’t happen pretty often or ever,” Jackson said, referring to a team having two DPOY winners at the same time. “I just know what he brings to Boston. I’ve seen it before I was in the league and it’s crazy.”

Here’s more from the West:

The Mavericks intend to hire Eric Hughes as an assistant coach, sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Hughes got his NBA start as an assistant with Toronto and previously worked under head coach Jason Kidd with the Nets and Bucks, MacMahon notes. He has been with the Sixers for the past four seasons.
Thunder big man Aleksej Pokusevski won’t be able to represent his native Serbia in the FIBA World Cup next month, according to Eurohoops.net. The 17th pick of the 2020 draft, Pokusevski suffered a broken arm during an offseason workout at the end of May and won’t receive medical clearance to train with a basketball until late August, the report states. The World Cup starts August 25 and runs through September 10. The 21-year-old was hoping to secure a spot on the Serbian national team’s 12-man roster.
In a mailbag for The Oklahoman, Joe Mussatto predicts that Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Victor Oladipo, Jack White, Usman Garuba and TyTy Washington are the the most likely players to be on the chopping block due to the Thunder‘s roster crunch. However, Mussatto notes that OKC has a few months to figure things out and more trades could be in order rather than outright waiving all five players.

Thunder Notes: Holmgren, Mann, Williams, Presti

July 17th, 2023 at 8:58am CST by Arthur Hill

No matter what else happened for the Thunder, the highlight of Summer League was seeing Chet Holmgren back on the court, writes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. After missing all of last season with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft showed off his potential in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, averaging 16.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in four games.

While he looked rusty in some areas, such as committing 15 turnovers and shooting 1-of-9 from three-point range, Mussatto notes that the most encouraging part of Holmgren’s game was watching him protect the basket. He averaged 3.5 blocks per game and used his 7’1″ frame to alter numerous other shots.

“Conditioning wise, there’s millions of hurdles you have to go through in the process of returning to play,” Holmgren said after his Summer League return. “Not being able to play a game for a year, it’s really hard to test and see where you are. … It’s definitely something I have to continue to work on, and I’ll be ready by the time training camp starts. I feel like I’ll have myself prepared to be in in-season shape.”

There’s more on the Thunder:

Tre Mann was shut down in Las Vegas due to an avulsion fracture in his right middle finger, but it’s not believed to be a long-term concern, Mussatto adds. The Thunder expect the backup point guard to resume basketball activities by the end of July.
The selection of Jaylin Williams in the second round of last year’s draft will allow Holmgren to spend more time at power forward and avoid the physical contact that comes with playing center, notes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Williams is a rugged 6’10” big man who led the NBA in drawing charges last season and shot 40.7% from beyond the arc. “It’s good because it allows my length to be found in the game in different ways,” Holmgren said of playing alongside Williams. “When he’s at the five, he’s in (screen) coverage more, and I’m able to kind of move around and roam the court a little more on defense, be the low man in help and be able to come over for blocks if somebody gets beat or use my length in the passing lanes and as an on-ball defender.”
General manager Sam Presti didn’t add anyone this summer who projects as a long-term keeper, Slater observes in the same piece. Presti opted to use his cap room to collect more draft assets while taking on the contracts of Davis Bertans, Victor Oladipo and Rudy Gay. Slater views Oladipo and Gay as buyout options, while Bertans may reach that status eventually with just $5MM guaranteed for 2024/25. Presti also traded for former first-round picks Usman Garuba and TyTy Washington, but Slater doubts that they’ll see much playing time considering the talent that’s already in place.

Thunder Trade Patty Mills To Hawks For Three Players, Second-Round Pick

July 12th, 2023 at 1:11pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 12: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Hawks.

The Thunder’s press release indicates that OKC is receiving a 2026 second-round pick in the deal. Atlanta previously traded away its own ’26 second-rounder, but controlled Golden State’s second-rounder for that year, so that’s presumably the one headed to the Thunder.

JULY 8: The Thunder have agreed to trade guard Patty Mills to the Hawks in exchange for guard TyTy Washington, forward Rudy Gay, big man Usman Garuba, and a second-round pick, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

This trade agreement will likely be separate from the five-team sign-and-trade deal that will send Dillon Brooks to Houston, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype.

Mills, Washington, and Garuba – who are all still technically Rockets for the time being – are all expected to be involved in that Brooks trade, with Mills ticketed for Oklahoma City and Washington and Garuba on track to land in Atlanta.

However, they probably can’t simply be rerouted to new destinations within the same transaction, since the Thunder don’t have the cap room necessary to take on the additional salary, Gozlan notes. OKC would be able to salary-match and go over the cap using Mills ($6.8MM) in a separate deal.

Having initially agreed to take on Washington ($2.3MM) and Garuba ($2.6MM) in a salary-dump trade that netted them two second-round picks, the Hawks will still come out ahead by sending one second-rounder to the Thunder and will shed Rudy Gay‘s unwanted expiring contract ($6.5MM) in the process.

Atlanta will end up with Mills – who may or may not remain on the roster and play a role in the team’s backcourt in 2023/24, per Wojnarowski (Twitter link) – and will save a little money while opening up a couple roster spots. The team is now $8.2MM under the tax line with 16 players on standard contracts, including three on non-guaranteed deals, tweets Gozlan.

Mills almost certainly wasn’t in the Thunder’s plans — they’d agreed to take him into their cap room as part of the Brooks sign-and-trade in order to acquire a pair of second-round picks. Those picks will be Houston’s 2029 and 2030 second-rounders, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).

It’s unclear if the Thunder envision Washington, Garuba, or Gay opening the season on their roster. But even if all three of those players are waived, Oklahoma City will add another second-round pick in this deal, which is presumably the priority.

This will be the third time Mills has been traded this offseason. He was sent from Brooklyn to Houston and will move from Houston to OKC before heading to Atlanta.

A veteran combo guard who will turn 35 next month, Mills was no longer a major part of the Nets’ rotation last season — his 14.3 minutes per game represented his lowest average since the 2012/13 season. He recorded 6.2 points and 1.4 assists per game in 40 appearances, with a shooting line of .411/.366/.833.

Garuba was a first-round pick in 2021 and Washington was a first-rounder in 2022, but neither player has established himself as a consistent, reliable NBA player so far. As for Gay, he has compiled an impressive career résumé across 17 seasons in the league, but he’ll turn 37 in August, so his best days are behind him.

Rockets Acquire Dillon Brooks In Five-Team Deal

July 8th, 2023 at 7:03pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8: The complex five-team trade that sends Brooks to Houston has been finalized, the Rockets announced in a press release The breakdown of the deal, which combined several separate trade agreements, is as follows:

Rockets acquire Brooks (via sign-and-trade), the Clippers’ 2026 second-round pick, the Grizzlies’ 2027 second-round pick (from Clippers), and the draft rights to Alpha Kaba (from Hawks).
Hawks acquire Usman Garuba, TyTy Washington, the Timberwolves’ 2025 second-round pick (from Rockets), the Rockets’ 2028 second-round pick, and cash (from Thunder).
Grizzlies acquire Josh Christopher.
Thunder acquire Patty Mills, a 2024 second-round pick (from Rockets), the Rockets’ 2029 second-round pick, and the Rockets’ 2030 second-round pick.
Clippers acquire Kenyon Martin Jr.

In a separate deal, Oklahoma City will ship Mills to Atlanta in exchange for Garuba, Washington, Rudy Gay and a second-round pick.

6:04pm: The Rockets will acquire Brooks via sign-and-trade, generating a trade exception for the Grizzlies, Wojnarowski confirms (via Twitter).

Sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link) that Houston is trading Josh Christopher to Memphis. Although Iko doesn’t specify it will be part of a Brooks sign-and-trade, that seems logical.

The Grizzlies’ trade exception for Brooks would be $11.4MM due to base year compensation rules, notes Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link). If Christopher heads to Memphis in the deal, that TPE would shrink to $8.9MM, Gozlan adds.

5:20pm: The Rockets and Brooks have agreed to a four-year deal worth $80MM, agent Mike George tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

The deal will have a descending structure, tweets Wojnarowski. It will be fully guaranteed, with no player or team option, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).

As with VanVleet, Houston’s offer in order to secure a commitment ended up being for more years and more money than initially anticipated.

JULY 1, 4:35pm: The Rockets are close to reaching a contract agreement with unrestricted free agent Dillon Brooks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

While Houston has the cap room necessary to sign Brooks outright, the team has been engaged in trade talks around the league, according to Charania, who says a sign-and-trade with the Grizzlies is a possibility if the Rockets reach a deal with the veteran forward.

Brooks was frequently linked to the Rockets in the days leading up to free agency. One report indicated that Houston was preparing to offer him a deal in the range of $14-16MM annually, while another stated the team had a meeting lined up for Friday or Saturday with the 27-year-old.

Brooks is a talented perimeter defender who earned All-Defensive Second Team honors this spring, but he has become an increasingly erratic shooter, making a career-worst 39.6% of his field goal attempts in 2022/23. His three-point percentage dipped to 32.1% on 5.6 attempts per game during the last two seasons after he converted 35.3% of 4.5 threes per game in his first four seasons, all with the Grizzlies.

On top of his offensive struggles, Brooks’ outsized personality and aggressive playing style have gotten him into trouble both on the court and in interviews off it. He received three one-game suspensions this season, once for an on-court altercation with Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell and twice for accumulating so many technical fouls.

Brooks ultimately wore out his welcome in Memphis, with a report after the season indicating that the Grizzlies didn’t plan to bring him back “under any circumstances.” His performance during the team’s first-round loss to the Lakers was reportedly considered to be a breaking point. Brooks referred to Lakers star LeBron James as “old” following Memphis’ Game 2 win, suggesting the NBA’s all-time leading scorer was well past his prime.

He was then ejected from Game 3 for hitting James in the groin, surrendered a pair of key baskets to LeBron in a Game 4 loss, and was eventually fined $25K for declining to speak to reporters after three games of the series (all losses). Offensively, Brooks shot just 31.2% from the field and 23.8% on three-pointers across six playoff games.

A change of scenery could benefit Brooks, and the Rockets have reportedly been prioritizing tough, defensive-minded veterans under new head coach Ime Udoka. Houston has reached an agreement with Fred VanVleet and was said to be aggressive in its pursuit of Defensive Player of the Year runner-up Brook Lopez, who ultimately decided to remain in Milwaukee.

Trade Rumors: Lillard, Harden, Brogdon, Fournier, Rockets

July 2nd, 2023 at 12:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Trail Blazers told rival teams that they are “open for business everywhere in the league” regarding a Damian Lillard trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (YouTube link).

Lillard, who asked for a trade on Saturday after weeks of speculation, reportedly hopes to end up in Miami, where he could be part of a title contender. However, the Heat may not be able to offer the best trade package, and Portland GM Joe Cronin intends to focus on the team’s needs rather than Lillard’s preference while negotiating a deal.

“For Portland, they’re going to go out into the marketplace and try to find the best deal they can,” Wojnarowski said, “a combination of young players, draft picks, salary cap relief, all the things you want when a star of Damian Lillard’s magnitude asks to be traded.”

Woj adds that he doesn’t expect a Lillard deal to be completed quickly and that Miami doesn’t have any advantage because Lillard wants to go there. The Blazers haven’t told Lillard whether they intend to comply with his request to join the Heat, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

There are more trade rumors to pass along:

The Sixers‘ asking price for James Harden has been “really high,” Wojnarowski said in the same segment, noting that president of basketball operations Daryl Morey tends to seek a lot in return when a star player wants to be traded. Harden picked up his $35.6MM player option this week, and reports have indicated that he wants to be dealt to the Clippers. Wojnarowski adds that it’s “not an easy trade to make” because Philadelphia has to get value in return to pair with MVP Joel Embiid and keep the team in title contention. Woj speculates that trade talks could extend beyond Summer League action.
The Celtics aren’t trying to trade Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon, a source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Brogdon was involved in an early version of the Kristaps Porzingis deal, but that fell through when the Clippers pulled out due to medical concerns about Brogdon. Himmelsbach adds that Brogdon is expected to be ready for the start of next season, even though he’s considering surgery for a right elbow injury he suffered in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Knicks will continue to explore trades involving Evan Fournier, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv, but they don’t need to open any more cap flexibility to add Donte DiVincenzo after agreeing to send Obi Toppin to the Pacers. New York doesn’t seem to be actively pursuing either Lillard or Harden, according to Begley.
David Weiner of ClutchFans.net (Twitter link) suspects the Rockets will fold multiple reported trade agreements into their sign-and-trade deal for Dillon Brooks in order to maximize their cap room. After acquiring Patty Mills and using up their remaining cap space, Weiner posits, Houston will package Josh Christopher (to the Grizzlies), Usman Garuba and TyTy Washington (to the Hawks), and Mills (destination TBD), whose combined salaries will be enough to match Brooks’ expected first-year salary (approximately $21.6MM) without requiring room.

Rockets Trading Garuba, Washington, Picks To Hawks

July 1st, 2023 at 3:21pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Rockets are shipping out two young players still on their rookie scale deals, center Usman Garuba and point guard TyTy Washington, plus two future second-round draft picks and $1.1MM in cash considerations, to the Hawks in exchange for the draft rights to 2017 No. 60 pick Alpha Kaba, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter links).

The picks the Hawks will be receiving are the Timberwolves’ 2025 second-round selection and Houston’s own 2028 second-rounder, per Williams. Atlanta has trade exceptions available to absorb Garuba and Washington without sending out any of the team’s own players.

Garuba, 21, might be able to carve out legitimate rotation minutes for a reconfigured Hawks frontline missing longtime starting power forward John Collins, who is being sent to the Jazz. The 6’8″ big man appeared in 75 games off the bench for a rebuilding Houston team last year, his second NBA season. He logged averages of 3.0 PPG on .486/.407/.617 shooting splits, 4.1 RPG and 0.9 APG in 12.9 MPG.

Upon being drafted out of Kentucky with the No. 29 pick last summer, the 6’3″ Washington played sparingly for Houston as a rookie in 2022/23, averaging 4.7 PPG, 1.5 APG and 1.5 RPG in just 31 contests. He posted much more robust numbers with Houston’s G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, averaging 26.6 PPG, 7.6 APG, 6.6 RPG and 1.6 SPG.

Kaba, a 6’10” power forward/center, is currently playing for Montenegrin club KK Budućnost and seems unlikely to ever play at the NBA level.

For Atlanta, this appears to be an asset-gathering move, as the team adds future draft equity and two intriguing young prospects under cheap team control.

As for the Rockets, Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype tweets that Houston now has carved out $29MM in available space under the salary cap. The team also opens up a couple extra roster spots and now has 11 players on guaranteed contracts for 2023/24, including Fred VanVleet, whose deal isn’t yet official.

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.

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