Houston Rockets: 5 potential free agency targets in 2017

Nene

In his first season with the Rockets, Nene was a pleasant surprise in his backup center role. The Rockets did a good job of managing his minutes and games played, leading to a fresher Nene on a more consistent basis.

Almost immediately as free agency started, the Rockets tried to sign Nene to a four-year, $15 million contract. However, because of the newly implemented CBA (and over-38 rule), that contract length isn’t allowed.

The Rockets then offered him a three year, $10.9 million deal to which Nene wasn’t pleased with, citing the financial loss. As currently stands, Nene is back on the open market and the Rockets should be scrambling to bring him back to Houston.

Nene played in 67 games during the 2016-17 season and averaged a modest 9.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in just 17.9 minutes per game. Nene was still an above-average defender and was very efficient from the floor, posting a 63.0 true shooting percentage.

Nene is the perfect backup big for the Rockets, as he has better play-making skills than most centers, and stil has good touch around the rim. Additionally, Nene brings an important veteran presence and toughness in the locker room.

With the Rockets needing to build their bench back up after the Chris Paul trade, re-signing Nene is the perfect place to start achieving that goal.