The Houston Rockets are back to being a professional NBA team once again.

The Rockets finally ended the Kevin Porter Jr. era on Tuesday, coughing up two second-round picks in order to unload his contract to the Oklahoma City Thunder, getting back the contract of Victor Oladipo and third-year forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. The move puts an end to a long investment and very rocky tenure with KPJ.

David Weiner joined Dave Hardisty on the ClutchFans podcast to discuss the Porter Jr. Experiment, the price paid to move him, Houston’s potential trade options moving forward, the new culture and the current state of the Rockets young core.

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What a draft night!

The Rockets came away with some incredible fortune last week as Auburn forward Jabari Smith Jr., who many felt was the #1 pick, fell to #3 and the rest is history. Jabari is now set as part of the future in Clutch City.

It wasn’t just Jabari that was the good fortune, either. The Rockets snagged LSU forward Tari Eason with the 17th pick and picked up Kentucky point guard TyTy Washington and a couple of second-round picks late in the draft.

Dave Hardisty (@clutchfans) and David Weiner (@bimathug) discuss on the podcast the 2022 NBA Draft and how the Rockets came away with Bari, Tari and TyTy — what looks like another impressive haul for Rockets GM Rafael Stone. They also discuss possible Eric Gordon trades and the state of the Rockets rebuild.

A huge shout out to all our supporters over the years. Thanks for subscribing to the pod!

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Rockets fans… it’s Draft Week!

The 2022 NBA Draft is this Thursday and for the second straight season, the Houston Rockets go into the draft with three first-round picks. After unofficially trading Christian Wood last week, the Rockets added pick #26 from Dallas to go with their own pick (#3) and the Brooklyn pick (#17).

With Wood out the door, many wonder if Eric Gordon is next. The 33-year old shooting guard could fit on just about any team in the league that’s trying to make the playoffs and beyond, but finding a salary and pick asset match is not an easy task.

David Weiner (ClutchFans | Twitter) joins me on the podcast we discuss a very big week for the Rockets:

• The Christian Wood trade – what it means for Dallas and Houston
• Rockets team “culture” — is Kevin Porter Jr. a problem?
• Possibilities we see for Eric Gordon
• The NBA Draft — is Paolo Banchero on the way?
• Will the Rockets try to make moves or stay pat?
• Who we like at picks #3, #17 and #26

Thanks as always for listening and we appreciate everyone who has subscribed and left a review!

When you think of writing and reporting of Houston Rockets basketball, you think of Jonathan Feigen.

The longtime beat reporter for the Houston Chronicle is the very best doing it today. He joined us to talk about his career covering the team and some of his favorite moments since he’s been on the beat (1998). We also touched on the topic of the NBA Draft lottery as Jonathan was in Chicago and was one of a select few witnesses in the drawing room as the Rockets came away with the 3rd pick.

Of course, we also talked about today’s Rockets, including:

• The Rockets assistant coach vacancies
• Do the Rockets need to create roster spots?
• His experience witnessing the NBA lottery drawing live in Chicago
• Paolo Banchero and his fit in Houston
• Daishen Nix
• Usman Garuba – how is he progressing?
• Trade goals and opportunities this summer
• The 2022 NBA Draft

Special thanks to Jonathan for taking the time to feed our hunger for Rockets news. You can follow all his coverage at the Houston Chronicle and on his Twitter account.

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