1. Houston Rockets
Often where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Never one to die wondering, Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, will leave no stone unturned in his pursuit of a title. Despite being capped-out due to their array of enormous contracts, this hasn’t stopped Morey and the Rockets from entering the news stream as free agency approaches.
The latest revelation came via Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who tweeted the following:
Reporting w/ @ZachLowe: Houston’s offering Clint Capela, Eric Gordon and PJ Tucker individually to teams w/ space to absorb salary. Rockets trying for best available first-rounder for any of those three, hoping to redirect pick to Philly in pursuit of Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2019
This is not Morey’s first chase of Butler, with the initial one being during the course of last season, when he reportedly offered up to four first round draft picks to acquire Butler when he was still a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Furthermore, this is not the first time the Rockets have made several of their players available:
Sources: In calls to front offices, Houston GM Daryl Morey is showing an aggressive desire to improve roster with all players and picks available in talks. Hard to imagine James Harden scenario, but the rest under contract - perhaps even Chris Paul - could be moved in right deal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 29, 2019
Clearly, the key player here as it relates to Jordan is center Clint Capela. Signed last summer to a five-year, $90 million contract extension ($80 million guaranteed), Capela excelled in the regular season but somewhat languished in the postseason, playing just 28.7 minutes per game during the Rockets’ second round loss to the Golden State Warriors.
On a recent episode of the Brian Windhorst and the Hoop Collective podcast, Tim MacMahon of ESPN made the following observations in relation to Jordan and Capela:
"“They can’t trade Capela and not have a rim-running center, a rebounder, a defensive anchor….De’Andre Jordan, despite butting heads with Chris Paul at times with the Clippers, he is really close with Chris Paul, he’s a Houston native….If he’s locked in, you could even argue that he’s a short-term upgrade over Capela.”"
With Capela on the books for $14.9 million next season, the Rockets would essentially view this as replacing Capela with a similar-level center on a much reduced salary. As MacMahon also added:
"“[Jordan’s salary] would have to be for that $5.7 million exception.”"
While this is all clearly far from a certainty, Morey’s history of chasing stars and making deals can’t be overlooked. Given the Rockets’ clear championship window, this situation represents Jordan’s most likely landing spot should Morey make the necessary moves.