Revealing Porter Jr. 3-for-2 trade: the Rockets also paid the price with one stone The Thunder were again drafted

This article was compiled from: The Athletic

Written by Kelly Iko and John Hollinger

原标题：Rockets trading Kevin Porter Jr. to Thunder; Oklahoma City to immediately waive guard: Source

On October 18, Beijing time, the Rockets and Thunder completed a 3-for-2 deal, and the Rockets sent guard Kevin Porter Jr. and two second-round picks to get the Thunder's Oladipo and Robinson Earle. The Thunder will immediately cut Porter Jr., the two second rounds are the Timberwolves' 2027 second round and the Bucks' 2028 second round. The Athletic was the first to reveal Porter Jr.'s deal.

Rockets kill two birds with one stone, and also pay the price

NBA expert Hollinger dissected the significance of the Rockets in making the deal. For the Rockets, the deal has two levels of significance.

One, apparently to get rid of Porter Jr., but the Rockets also saved themselves $5.51 million and generated a $4.51 million trade exception.

Second, the Rockets could fill his void with Robinson Earle, a true active player. (It is speculated that the Rockets wanted him involved in the deal, which could have been done without him, saving more money and creating a bigger exception). Robinson Earle's arrival adds a frontcourt player to the Rockets, especially mid-season, Robinson Earl will come in handy if Landre, Jeff Green's contracts are traded, and Robinson Earle is a $1.99 million team option next season, and the Rockets have the initiative. Last season, Robinson Earle averaged 6.8 points and 4.2 rebounds.

Of course, the Rockets did pay a good price, sending two second rounds. Theoretically, the Rockets could also trade Oladipo's expiring $9.45 million contract for another player before the opener, rather than dropping him outright, but the Rockets' roster is full, so it is likely that a 2-for-1 will be needed, and Oladipo cannot be packed; In addition, any Oladipo deal that would offset the savings from that deal if it needed to tie up funds.

The Athletic said Oladipo, 31, is recovering from a torn patellar tendon and is unlikely to play this season.

The Thunder calculated and was selected by the draft

Hollinger said the Thunder are also calculating on the deal. With this deal, the Thunder turned the $4.51 million floating salary under the luxury tax line into two second-round picks, and the future cost is not large, and the Thunder need to pay $1 million in salary cap fees next year for Porter Jr.'s light guaranteed salary for 2024-25.

The Rockets negotiated with multiple teams, some asking for more than two second-round picks. So why did the Thunder make this deal with the Rockets and not the other team? Because the Thunder have 18 contracts on board, expect to drop the players involved in the deal anyway. Instead of cutting Oladipo and Robinson Earle outright, the Thunder got two future second-round picks while also recouping some of their initial investment in Robinson Earle. (The Thunder traded the No. 36 and No. 34 picks at the 2021 Draft to move the draft pick to No. 32 and select Robinson-Earle.) Finally, they also received a $1.9 million trade exception through Robinson-Earle.

It was a very good deal for the Thunder, who amassed more draft assets. Woj said the Thunder have 15 first-round picks and 22 second-round picks over the next seven years.

Porter Jr. refused to plead guilty and his girlfriend changed her confession

The Rockets have been working hard to trade Porter since Porter Jr. was arrested last month on charges of grievous wounding and strangulation on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend. At present, the domestic violence case has been opened, Porter Jr. has refused to plead guilty, the second-degree assault charge has been dropped, and his girlfriend has also changed her confession, denying that Porter Jr. beat him.

"He didn't hit me," said the 26-year-old former WNBA player, "and he never clenched his fists and hit me in the face, and he certainly didn't hit me in the face multiple times." That's a lie. I don't have any injuries to prove it. ”

League sources previously revealed that the Rockets contacted a number of teams and offered to send Porter away at the cost of draft compensation, with Porter Jr. on a 4-year $82.5 million contract, including $15.9 million for the first year, and a 3-year contract that was non-guaranteed. Porter Jr., a 2019 first-round pick who played with the Rockets for the past three seasons after being traded to Houston from Cleveland, averaging 17.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6 assists and 1.2 steals per game. The Rockets renewed the 23-year-old's four-year, $82.5 million contract last October.