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Kevin Durant to Houston? Don’t Hold Your Breath

Jalen Rose feels Kevin Durant will join James Harden in Houston in a few years. David Weiner adds a dose of cap reality to the prediction.

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Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets?

Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets? That’s extremely unlikely

This morning, Grantland.com revealed a portion of their NBA Preview of the Houston Rockets where analyst Jalen Rose boldly predicted that Kevin Durant would leave Oklahoma City for Houston in a few years to join his good friend James Harden with the Rockets.

While the idea of adding one of the world’s two best basketball players to our beloved Rockets is certainly tantalizing, it is also far-fetched. Here’s why:

According to ShamSports.com, Durant is under contract contract with the Thunder through the 2015-16 season, with no early termination option or other way to opt out of his contract before then.

Meanwhile, the window for the Rockets to have significant cap room will most likely be limited to the summer of 2015, and that’s only if Houston does not elect to decline its 2014-15 team option on Chandler Parsons and re-sign him to a huge new deal. Assuming that Parsons receives a large contract (either in 2014 or 2015), the Rockets will not have nearly the salary cap space to sign Durant to anything remotely approaching what he can (and should) command on the open market: a maximum contract starting at no less than around $21.17 million (which is 105% of his 2015-16 salary). It is also likely that, rather than letting the contracts of Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik expire and losing them for nothing, the Rockets will either re-sign one or both of Lin and Asik or trade at least one of them (probably Asik), taking back additional salary in the process.

Even if Durant’s contract ended in 2015, it would require a fairly significant increase in the maximum salary cap to be able to add Durant, even if he took a discount similar to the one Lebron James took with the Miami Heat in 2010. This even accounts for the Rockets being stripped bare, with just the contracts of Dwight Howard, Harden, and the miniscule cap holds for Parsons and Patrick Beverley remaining on the books. Just those four roster spots would occupy no less than $45.33 million (once you add in eight incomplete roster charges).

One way in which the Rockets could conceivably add Durant would be via a sign-and-trade deal, with Houston likely parting with Parsons, another significant player (not named Harden or Howard) and multiple draft picks. Even then, the Thunder might balk at any trade scenario for Durant–let alone one with a Western Conference rival–unless they were absolutely convinced that he would leave Oklahoma City without the Thunder receiving any compensation in the process. Also, don’t discount the fact that both Russell Westbrook–who Rose speculates could leave the Thunder for the Los Angeles Lakers–and Serge Ibaka are under contract with the Thunder through the 2016-17 season. Assuming Westbrook can fully recover from his knee injury, it would be hard to see Durant walking away from a team that sports another top-10 player in the league and another player who is an elite rim protector.

Bottom line: While Rose may be drawing a lot of attention with his prediction of Durant joining the Rockets, even a cursory look at the salary cap situations for both Houston and Oklahoma City reveals that such a move would be quite difficult to effectuate. It sure won’t be for a lack of effort by Daryl Morey and the Rockets to make it happen, however.

2016 is a long ways away and a lot can change between now and then, but if you’re waiting anxiously for the Rockets to add Durant, well … don’t hold your breath.

Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets Draft Decisions: Who Will Be the #3 Pick?

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Houston Rockets Podcast

It’s officially NBA Draft Week!

The weeks of speculation are coming to an end as we’ve just about arrived at the 2024 NBA Draft. The Rockets hold picks #3 and #44 and could be quite active on the trade market.

Dave Hardisty and David Weiner paired up on the ClutchFans podcast to discuss the options before the Houston Rockets as they approach the June 26th NBA Draft. Is it really down to Donovan Clingan and Reed Sheppard as options? The pair also discuss trade-down options and whether Devin Carter could be intriguing to Ime Udoka. And are the Rockets a darkhorse for a Paul George trade?

The podcast premieres at 8:00am CT! Come join us!



CLUTCHFANS PODCAST: SPOTIFY | APPLE

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Podcast: Houston Rockets options with the #3 pick of the 2024 NBA Draft

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Houston Rockets 2024 NBA Draft prospects Zaccharie Risacher Stephon Castle Reed Sheppard Donovan Clingan

The offseason is now underway.

The forecast looks good for the Houston Rockets, but… there’s pressure as well this offseason because there are a handful of other West teams that might have rosier futures. Ime Udoka wants to win and win big. As we are about five weeks away from the NBA Draft, what are the Rockets looking to do this summer?

David Weiner joined Dave Hardisty on the ClutchFans podcast to discuss the Rockets shockingly landing the #3 pick and their options in this draft, including Reed Sheppard, Donovan Clingan, Zaccharie Risacher, Stephon Castle, Matas Buzelis and others. They also discuss the possibility of some big game hunting in Houston.


CLUTCHFANS PODCAST: SPOTIFY | APPLE

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Podcast: Steven Adams, Mikal Bridges and Trade Possibilities for the Rockets

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Houston Rockets Trade Deadline 2024

The Houston Rockets already made one deal, acquiring center Steven Adams from Memphis for a handful of second-round picks, but we still have several days left before this Thursday’s NBA Trade Deadline.

Are more deals on the way?

Rumors of interest in Mikal Bridges have swirled, with the Rockets holding precious (and unprotected) first-round picks from Brooklyn. They also could use some help inside this season, which Adams can not provide. Shooting is always in demand.

David Weiner joined Dave Hardisty on the ClutchFans podcast to discuss the Adams trade, its impact on the Rockets in 2024-25 and beyond, the Mikal Bridges rumors, the Brooklyn picks, other trade possibilities and options for Rafael Stone moving forward. Also discussed is the play of Houston’s core 6 prospects: Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason and Jalen Green.


CLUTCHFANS PODCAST: SPOTIFY | APPLE

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Rockets trade for center Steven Adams

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Steven Adams Houston Rockets

The Rockets made a surprise trade on Thursday, sending the contract of Victor Oladipo and three second-round picks to Memphis for center Steven Adams.

The deal came together quickly and the Rockets had a small window to get it done, hence why this trade was made with a week to go until the trade deadline.

The Price

When you consider that Memphis did this for cost savings primarily and that Adams would not play for any team in the league this season, the price seemed a little high to me. The Rockets gave up the OKC second-round pick this year, which is no big loss, but they also give up the better of Brooklyn’s or Golden State’s second-round pick this season. That’s a pretty good pick (likely in the late 30’s). They also give up the better of Houston’s or OKC’s second-round pick in 2025. If things go as planned for the Rockets, that pick should be in the 45-55 range.

But they didn’t sacrifice a first-round pick, which would have been brutal, and they were not going to use all those seconds this season. So it’s just a matter of opportunity cost — who else could they have gotten for this package?

My understanding is they (particularly Ime Udoka) are very high on Adams.

The Rockets also did this move for cap purposes as well. By moving out the Oladipo contract, which was expiring, and bringing in Adams’ deal, which is signed for $12.4M next season, the window for the Rockets to put together a trade package for a star player is extended out until the 2025 trade deadline. They continue to wait to see which players, if any, shake loose here and become available. They want flexible (see: expiring) contracts that they can combine with assets and this gives them another year to be in that position.

The Trade

It’s not often that the Rockets acquire a player I had not considered beforehand but that’s the case with Steven Adams. The Rockets sorely need a big with size that provides more traditional center strengths, making Clint Capela, Robert Williams, Nick Richards or Daniel Gafford potential candidates, but Adams was overlooked for a few reasons.

First, the 30-year old big man is out for the season after knee surgery cost him the entire 2023-24 campaign, so the Rockets won’t get any benefit from this trade this season. Secondly, Adams is not your traditional center either when it comes to rim protection.

But what Adams does do, he’s really good at and he has some of the same strengths of Brook Lopez, who the Rockets tried to sign in the offseason. Adams is quite possibly the strongest guy in the league and a legitimate 6-foot-11 with a 7-foot-5 wingspan. He’s an outstanding screen-setter, something that could really benefit the likes of Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson and Jalen Green. He was also an elite rebounder last season, finishing 6th in the league in caroms at 11.5 a game despite playing just 27.0 minutes a contest.

After watching Jonas Valanciunas absolutely bully the Rockets inside on Wednesday, it should be apparent by now to everyone that this was a pretty big need.

In 2021-22, the Memphis Grizzlies finished #2 in the West at 56-26. Their top two players in Net Rating that season were Dillon Brooks (+11.0) and Adams (+8.3), key cogs in a defense that held opponents to 108.6 points per 100 possessions. They’re both now Houston Rockets.

So this adds another trusted vet to Ime Udoka’s rotation.

The question is will the 30-year old Adams return to form after the knee injury? Adams sprained the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee a year ago, which cost him the end of that season and the playoffs. He tried rehabbing it and it never got better, so surgery became the option just as this season was kicking off.

I like to think the Rockets did their due diligence on that, despite the short time it took for this deal to come together, but that’s unclear.

If he does bounce back, then Udoka has a big man he can turn to reliably in situational matchups or on nights when the younger bigs struggle. He wouldn’t be Boban or even Jock Landale in that scenario — he’s going to play, so the frontcourt depth in 2024-25 should be better. In the end, they got a starting-caliber center who will have no problems coming off the bench, and that’s what they were looking for.

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On the KPJ trade and future of the Rockets

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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.

ClutchFans Podcast: On Apple | Spotify

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