The Houston Rockets are set to make a playoff push by capitalizing on their league-high $60 million in cap space.


Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Rockets are motivated to make a playoff push for several reasons. For starters, three years in the lottery is more than enough bites at the apple to find building blocks. They’ve drafted well and need to start getting their prospects to play meaningful basketball in order to progress their development.

Another factor toward starting to compete now is the fact that the Rockets owe the Thunder Top 4 protected first-round picks in 2024 and 2026. It makes sense for Houston to start trying now considering the odds are against them for keeping those picks.

The Rockets are heading into the offseason with 13 players under contract, including their two first-round picks and two players on non-guaranteed contracts. They are projected with $62.3 million in cap space after getting the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft and could get to $64.2 million if they waive the non-guaranteed salary of Daishen Nix. That is more cap space than they may need considering that amount is $17.3 million more than the highest maximum salary slot.

The smoke surrounding James Harden and a potential return to Houston has been brewing since Christmas. Since then there have been more and more reports substantiating the possibility. Whether or not this is also a leverage play to get the Sixers to give him his desired contract is still unclear. But whether it’s this year or in a future season, Harden’s desire to return to Houston seems to be real.

The Rockets are eligible to sign Harden this summer for up to four years, projected at $201.7 million. That is only $8.4 million less than the maximum amount the Sixers can re-sign him to, so there is no significant financial disadvantage if he leaves them. Houston would still have a lot of spending power left after presumably signing Harden, including $15.5-$17.2 million in cap space as well as the $7.7 million room mid-level exception.

Just signing Harden alone might not be enough to get the Rockets back into the playoffs in such a loaded Western Conference. He should be able to raise their floor from one of the league’s worst teams to potentially being in the play-in mix. A playoff seeding is definitely possible depending on what else they can do with their remaining flexibility to improve the roster.

If they don’t sign Harden, they would presumably pursue some of the other top free agents on the market including Khris Middleton, Kyrie Irving, Fred VanVleet, and Draymond Green. If they do sign Harden, they could target another top free agent by trading the $15.9 million salary of Kevin Porter Jr. without taking anyone back and waiving Nix. This would leave them with approximately $33 million in cap space to pursue another big name.



Source link

Back to top button