So this is what Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey meant when he said the team has something up its sleeve.
According ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, the Rockets are putting plans in motion to pursue free agents Kyle Lowry, Paul Millsap, Chris Paul and Gordon Hayward:
Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap and Kyle Lowry … four free agents Houston, according to league sources, plans to pursue in July,
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 21, 2017
Though the Rockets have the ability to start this offseason under the salary cap, they don’t have anywhere near enough coin to max out these players. Hayward’s max would be the cheapest, assuming no one takes a pay cut, and that would still run them about $29.7 million in Year 1 under the latest projections.
Don’t worry, though. Morey again has a plan:
Free Agency Scuttle: Houston is making Ryan Anderson/Lou Williams/Patrick Beverley available via trade to create summer spending flexibility
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 21, 2017
Patrick Beverley is on one of the NBA’s best contracts, and Lou Williams’ deal is expiring. It won’t be hard to move either of those two. Ryan Anderson is a different story. He has three years left on his four-season, $80 million pact. The Rockets will be hard pressed to sniff $30 million in room without moving him. And they may need to attach a carrot for some team to absorb him, if not take back some salary in return.
All of this in mind, it’s smart to bet on the Rockets getting max cap space if they want it. This isn’t something they’re only just thinking about now. Morey has no doubt dissected every possible avenue for months. More likely than not, he has deals lined up for everyone, ready to go, and is only looking for better ones and/or waiting to see how meetings with all his top targets unfold.
