On April 8, Beijing time, according to rocket team reporter Ben Dupos reported that after the end of next season, the Rockets' subsequent three first-round draft picks were in the hands of the Thunder, and they had to end the reconstruction and re-target to win.
On April 8, Beijing time, according to the famous NBA reporter Michael Scott, the Rockets are trying to reserve as much salary space as possible for the 2023 offseason.
With this in mind, the Rockets are more cautious about renewing Kevin Porter Jr. and Tate, and will not overtake the cap to renew, and at the end of the season, Tate's contract has a one-year player option left and Porter's contract has a one-year + one-year qualification offer, however, the Rockets see these two players as potential long-term players.
Michael Scott believes that Tate is seen as a valuable player in the league, and Dupos believes that the Rockets did not allow Gordon, Wood and Schroder to play at the end of the season, and although Tate is the same age as Wood, Tate did not join the veteran rotation group, which means that Tate is closer to the core lineup than Wood.
From all kinds of news, Porter and Tate are part of the rocket's long-term future, Schroeder, Gordon and Wood are no longer part of the rocket's long-term plan, but Porter and Tate are the rocket's long-term plan for the future.
In the Rockets planning ideas and team building strategy, the summer of 2023 will be the watershed of the Rockets, before the summer of 2023, the Rockets are mainly rebuilding to train young players, after 2023, due to the Rockets' first-round draft picks in the next 3 years and then in the hands of the Thunder, the Rockets will strive to win, so that the value of these first-round draft picks will be infinitely reduced, and the Rockets will return to the playoffs and even the championship ranks.
In order to realize such a concept, the Rockets will definitely give priority to renewing the contract of Tate and Porter Jr., but will not pay too much for the renewal of these two players, the Rockets will clear a lot of salary space in the summer of 2023, give priority to the introduction of players who can help the team win the championship or win, such players may be superstars who leave the team, may be golden supporting roles, may be potential stocks with liquidity ability, after all, the salary space released by Wall + Gordon + Wood at the same time will be around 80 million, And about 80 million, you can sign two superstars, or sign a number of quality role players.
The Rockets can try to build a team like the Grizzlies or the Suns, or they can be like the Nets gathering the combination of Durant + Irving, and then attracting the third big, because the Rockets have prepared a lot of salary space, and the Rockets can completely decide how to operate according to the actual situation at that time, whether it is free to sign, or through trades, or through drafts, these are the ways for the Rockets to reinforce.
In the summer of 2024, the super giants with player options currently have George, Leonard, Lillard, Booker and many other first-tier stars, and there are also many second-tier players, and even young players whose contracts expire, when the Rockets can make targeted reinforcements in the free market according to the configuration and needs of their teams.
In such a strategy, Porter and Tate can not play because the contract extension occupies a lot of Rockets salary space, affecting the Rockets reinforcement strategy, from this point of view, the Rockets have recognized that Porter and Tate are the positioning of the golden supporting role, rather than the future core of the team, from this point of view, the Rockets have modified Porter's positioning.