The Houston Rockets announced Saturday that their original three-team trade with Brooklyn and Cleveland (centered around James Harden) was amended into a four-team trade involving Indiana. With that revision, two-time All-Star guard Victor Oladipo is officially a Rocket, along with guard Dante Exum and forward Rodions Kurucs.
Originally, the plan was for two separate trades, with the Rockets taking Exum, Kurucs, Caris LeVert, and draft considerations from Brooklyn and Cleveland before flipping LeVert (and a future second-round draft pick) to Indiana in a separate deal for Oladipo. By taking in LeVert, rather than Oladipo, in the Harden trade, Houston would have generated a slightly larger Traded Player Exception (TPE) for future use.
However, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Indiana took issue with something found in LeVert’s physical. To compensate for this, Brooklyn is sending them an extra second-round pick and cash considerations, which required Indiana’s inclusion in the original trade.
To those asking about #Rockets generating a smaller TPE ($10M vs. $15M) with it now being a 4-team trade, the issue is that Indiana wanted more compensation due to LeVert's physical. Brooklyn is giving them that compensation, which means Indy needed to be in the original trade. https://t.co/NhE1W1rcWf
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) January 16, 2021
Houston did not have any cash to offer, since the Rockets already spent their full allotment for the 2020-21 league year as part of the offseason sign-and-trade arranagement with Detroit for Christian Wood. Also, the Rockets may have prioritized a future second-round pick over the slightly larger TPE, since many TPEs expire without being used.
With the revision, Houston’s TPE is worth approximately $10.65 million, as opposed to $15.45 million under the original construction of two separate trades. The TPE allows the Rockets to take in a salary of up to that amount in trades for up to one year without being subject to the NBA’s usual salary-matching rules (for teams above the salary cap).
While ultimately structuring this as a four-team trade means that the Harden TPE will be reduced (from $15.45M to $10.65M), it also avoids the (potentially disastrous) situation in which IND pulls out *after* the first trade goes through. https://t.co/KwidJhTnaa
— David Weiner (@BimaThug) January 16, 2021
In a picture shared on the team’s social media channels, Oladipo was seen joining his new Houston teammates in San Antonio. From the press release, here’s how the Rockets describe his NBA career:
Oladipo (6-4, 210) is in his eighth season and is a two-time All-Star. In 430 career games with 370 starts, he is averaging 17.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.7 steals. Over the past three seasons, he was the only player to have averaged at least 20.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.0 rpg, and 1.90 spg. In 2017-18, Oladipo was named Most Improved Player, All-NBA Third Team, and All-Defensive First Team.
Oladipo with the squad in San Antonio pic.twitter.com/Tf8krgKMG5
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) January 16, 2021
Oladipo was not activated in time for Saturday’s game, while Kurucs was. However, Houston coach Stephen Silas said pregame that he anticipated having more roster reinforcements by Monday’s game in Chicago, and presumably that would include Oladipo — who is not injured.
In what should be Oladipo’s debut, Monday’s tipoff between the Rockets and Bulls from United Center is set for 7:00 p.m. Central. Oladipo should start at shooting guard as the lineup replacement for Harden.
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