With two marquee additions in Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks and two role-player signings in Jock Landale and Jeff Green, the Houston Rockets have already used most of the financial flexibility they had entering a crucial 2023 free agency period.
But as far as any further additions, they’re not reduced to minimum-salary bids, just yet. For now, they have at least $4.5 million in room beneath the NBA’s 2023-24 salary cap and perhaps more, depending how they sequence and structure their various trades and contract dealings this offseason. They also have the room exception to offer, worth a starting salary of nearly $8 million, annually.
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As far as potentially using those financial tools available to them, The Athletic’s Kelly Iko reports that Rockets general manager Rafael Stone does seem to have a particular need in mind:
At a glance, the Rockets could still use another veteran combo guard. Houston is still surveying the market for guard depth, team sources say, with their full room mid-level exception still available ($7.7 million) and about $4.5 million left in cap space after their early spending spree.
Iko didn’t identify any particular names, but one free agent target who may fit that criteria would seem to be Austin Rivers. With a diverse skill set, previous playing experience in Houston, and a clear desire to help guide younger players, the 30-year-old may be a fit.
Another option could be 27-year-old guard Kendrick Nunn, who has battled through his share of injuries in recent years but has averaged a productive 12.1 points (45.1% FG, 36.2% on 3-pointers) and 2.4 assists in 23.7 minutes over three NBA seasons to date.
Unless the Rockets plan on using the room exception, they would mathematically need to complete such a signing within the next few days so that it can be structured appropriately with all of the other deals. The moratorium, which has stalled any 2023-24 transactions from being made official, ends on Thursday, July 6.
FWIW, here’s a list of (at lease somewhat decent) UFA guards still apparently on the board:
In alphabetical order:
Terence Davis
Aaron Holiday
Wes Mathews
Svi Mykhailiuk
Raul Neto
Jaylen Nowell
Kendrick Nunn
Austin Rivers
Terrence Ross https://t.co/fXbTL7NLxT— David Weiner (@BimaThug) July 4, 2023
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