Players won in the Christian Wood trade will be in a big deal, with four players giving up at least three.
In the Christian Wood deal, which went into effect on June 24, the Rockets received a total of four players from the Dallas Mavericks. According to U.S. media reports, the Rockets are only considering keeping veteran Boban Marjanovic because he has some potential in the Houston Rockets. The other three (Trey Burke, Sterling Brown or Marquis Chris) are likely to be laid off.
Why? Because according to the rules of the NBA, each team can only allow a maximum number of 20 players in the lineup during the offseason and training camp. The main reason Rockets general manager Rafael Stone hasn't cut the three players is that each of these players has a deal value.
For example, Marjanovic's contract is worth $3.5 million, Burke's contract is worth $3.4 million, Brown's is worth $3 million, and Chris's salary is $2.2 million. If the contract of more than ten million is used for a potential deal, it may be exchanged for some future draft picks or young potential players.
In contrast, if Stone cuts these players, no player in these positions will be able to make new signings with other teams until the middle of the 2022-23 season. Therefore, it makes more sense to replace layoffs with official deals whenever possible, and it can be of great benefit.
After all, the Rockets' roster doesn't need any other players to flesh out their roster, as the team's 15-man roster is already in place and there are two decent two-way contracts.
The key date will come this week. The number of players who have been on the wood trade for two months has been up to two months, and each of these players (Burke, Brown, Chris and Marjanovic) can trade with other players. Before that, each player was eligible to trade individually, but not package trades together.
Since the contract amount of these players is not large, it is better to trade separately than to package transactions together. In terms of the potential use of the Rockets, the possibility of a deal negotiated with four players is much more realistic.
As of this week, the 60-day mark since trading on June 24 will pass. At that time, trading options for Stone and the Rockets will be open.
If the deal fails, the Rockets are expected to cut at least three of those four players before training camp and leave the spot on the roster for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, who are developing the league. In fact, so far, it has been suggested that the Rockets want at least a bigger option in the weeks leading up to training camp in 2022-23.
So, for sure, the Rockets trading window will open soon, perhaps just this month.
