As of now, the Rockets' record is 15 wins and 43 losses, ranking third from the bottom of the First League in the West, although there are more than 20 games to go, but the team should not change much in the ranking game, after all, the Rockets have locked in two first-round picks in 2022, general manager Stone also said in an earlier interview that he wants to bring talented players to the team. According to the current team record ranking, the Rockets' own first-round pick can fall in the 3rd pick, and the Nets' first-round pick will fall in the 16th pick, which is very good, but this also brings a certain salary pressure with the Rockets next season.
After the trade day close, the Rockets had 14 full contract players, and then locked in The Daishnicks on a 4-year contract, and the total salary of these 15 players this season reached 120.6 million, which added a total of 127.77 million in the cost of buyouts and layoffs. If there is nothing to do next, the Rockets have no pressure of luxury taxes, but next season will be different, if you look at the existing player list, next season Wall 47.4 million, Gordon 19.6 million, Wood 14.3 million, Green 9.9 million, Nuwaba 5 million, Shenjing 3.4 million, Garupa 2.5 million, Christopher 2.4 million, Matthews 2 million, Porter Jr. 3.2 million, Martin Jr. 1.8 million, Tate 1.8 million, Knicks 1.6 million, The 13 men are paid a total of 115 million, assuming that the Rockets will not renew their contracts with Schroeder and Fernando, the remaining two places for the Rockets will just be able to sign two rookies, and if the No. 3 show is paid $8 million and the No. 16 show is $5 million, the cumulative salary of 15 players will reach $127 million.
According to previous US media reports, the salary cap next season is 121 million, and the 15 salaries of the Rockets are obviously over the cap, although there is still a certain distance from the luxury tax, but the room for operation is not large. And next season is a season when the Rockets need to produce results, offseason reinforcement is an inevitable problem, so for Stone, the Rockets want to get more room to operate, can trade two players to achieve. I believe that many people's first thought is to deal with Wall, but Wall's salary next season is 47.4 million, even if it can be traded, the total salary in exchange is not much different, and Wall and Westbrook exchange is not impossible to stage again, and even the buyout is also possible, so the eyes can only be on Gordon and Wood.
Before the end of the trading day, Gordon and Wood were put on the shelves, and the management of the Rockets also made a clear asking price, but in the end they did not get a suitable offer, so in the next offseason, the team will definitely have to make a fuss from these two people, after all, other young players can not move, there will be no big stars in the trading market, then the value of Gordon's trade with Wood will also increase. In addition to the possibility of dealing with Gordon Wood, two players may be awarded an early contract extension, one is Porter Jr. and the other is Tate, and it will be time to wait and see...