The Houston Rockets officially parted ways with Kevin Porter Jr. on Tuesday, sending the embattled guard and a pair of second-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Victor Oladipo. The Thunder immediately released Porter, a formality after he was charged with second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault in mid-September following an allegedly violent encounter with his longtime girlfriend.
Robinson-Earl is no star, and may never develop into anything more than a fourth big man. But he's still just 22, with a versatile two-way skill set that could help hasten the Rockets' evolution from bottom-dwelling laughingstock to one of the most exciting up-and-coming teams in basketball.
Adding Robinson-Earl while finally dropping Porter, though, apparently isn't enough for the Rockets. General manager Rafael Stone and company reportedly have hopes of trading Oladipo's salary and low-level draft compensation for more help in 2023-24.
“…now there’s an expectation around the league the Rockets will look to use Oladipo’s $9.5 million salary and further second-round capital to further improve Houston’s roster as the Rockets expect to compete for the play-in tournament this spring,” Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports reported on Tuesday.
Houston has already held trade discussions with the Detroit Pistons regarding Alec Burks, and were previously “in touch” with the Utah Jazz about a deal for Talen Horton-Tucker, according to Fischer. Sources told Yahoo! the Rockets have also eyed Malcolm Brogdon in wake of his trade to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of the Jrue Holiday blockbuster.
The Rockets' perimeter depth after trading Kevin Porter Jr.
Houston's pursuit of further backcourt reinforcements with Oladipo's salary isn't surprising considering the organization's win-now mandate. The Rockets' 2024 first-round pick will go to the Thunder unless it falls in the top-four of the lottery, and owner Tilman Fertitta has made abundantly clear he expects his team to make major improvements in Ime Udoka's first season on the sidelines.
The front office followed that directive in free agency, bringing in Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks on lavish multi-year contracts as entrenched starters and cultural tone-setters. Signing Jeff Green and Jock Landale to shore up its depth on the interior was just more evidence of Houston's plans to compete in 2023-24.
Porter's exit could've always been addition by subtraction from that perspective. He's struggled playing within the team concept offensively throughout his career, and it's unclear how such a notoriously combative personality would've taken to playing a reserve role this season behind VanVleet, Jalen Green and Brooks. The Rockets also accounted for Porter's absence on the depth chart by inking veteran wing Reggie Bullock to a minimum contract after he was bought out by the San Antonio Spurs just before training camp.
With VanVleet, Green and Brooks firmly ahead of him in the pecking order, there was a worry rookie Amen Thompson could struggle to see enough developmental minutes and touches this season even after Porter's departure. Adding a proven secondary ball handler like Burks, Brogdon or Horton-Tucker would only exacerbate that problematic numbers game for Thompson. Given the flashes of progress he's shown with his jumper this preseason, there's also no guarantee the big, hyper-athletic playmaker will impact winning less than Houston's purported trade targets, either.
Does Thompson look like the type of player who should have his role further reduced to give the likes of Burks, Brogdon or Horton-Tucker playing time?
The vast majority of rookies aren't good NBA players. Odds are that Thompson's lack of high-level playing experience and raw scoring chops will keep him from making overtly positive two-way contributions on a nightly basis this season, even if his jumper keeps smoothing out.
But there's no need for the Rockets to sacrifice any more long-term growth for short-term success than they already have. Their contending future lies with Thompson, Green, Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengun, not to mention Tari Eason and Cam Whitmore—two other promising young players who could fall further down Udoka's rotation with the addition of another veteran.
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