Houston Rockets: Team showing interest in J.R. Smith

With free agency activities slowing down, the Houston Rockets are reportedly looking to add Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith to the roster.

The Houston Rockets have taken care of their most important offseason decisions as we enter the middle part of August.

The team re-signed point guard Chris Paul to a maximum salary contract, brought in 10-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony on a veteran’s minimum contract and struck an incredibly team-friendly deal to retain the services of starting center Clint Capela.

The team also made a concerted effort to inject the roster with more youthful players. Out went Trevor Ariza and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who were both over 30 years old, and in came Michael Carter-Williams and James Ennis, who are both in their 20s.

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They also contributed to the youth movement on the Rockets roster by selecting guard De’Anthony Melton in this year’s NBA Draft and Melton was impressive enough in Summer League where he should have a good chance to compete for a roster spot.

The Rockets also agreed to a contract with promising 20-year-old center Isaiah Hartenstein.

With the Rockets roster starting to take some shape, the team can pinpoint specific types of players they still want to bring in. They have their backcourt solidified with Chris Paul and James Harden, and have their frontcourt sorted with the return of Clint Capela.

The team could look into bringing in an additional 3-and-D wing to play alongside their core.

Now there are reports from ESPN’s Zach Lowe that the Rockets have expressed interest in acquiring 32-year-old Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith.

With the departures of two key wing players in Trevor Ariza and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Smith’s skill set could be exactly what the Rockets need.

Smith was traded from the New York Knicks to the Cavaliers in 2015 and played three full seasons with the team since then.

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He has played in four straight NBA Finals alongside LeBron James including their miraculous comeback from down three games to one to the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 Finals to bring the Cavaliers their first NBA title.

With the Cavaliers drafting guard Collin Sexton, signing David Nwaba, and already possessing guards Jordan Clarkson and Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith could become an expendable trade piece.

He still has two years and about $30 million left on his contract, so the Cavaliers might be looking to sell Smith for young players, draft picks or cash.

The ideal situation for the Rockets would be if the Cavaliers or another team would be willing to take on the $41 million on Ryan Anderson‘s last two years of his contract.

This would give the team more flexibility to sign another big free agent next summer while swapping a player they will barely use for an asset that can help the team in Smith.

For the Rockets, Smith would likely not play the 27.1 minutes per game he has averaged for his career, but he could help the team with his streaky 3-point shooting and tough defense that fit Mike D’Antoni‘s mold perfectly.

This deal is definitely something to keep an eye on as we go deeper into the summer and rosters begin to take shape.