It remains to be seen if Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey is close to landing a preferred target from the buyout market or overseas, but one thing is for certain. By Wednesday, some sort of roster move is coming.
NBA teams are obligated to carry a minimum of 14 players on their rosters during the course of each regular season, although they are permitted to drop to 13 players for up to two weeks.
In the case of the Rockets, they dropped from 14 players to 13 courtesy of their transactions at last week’s trade deadline — with Robert Covington and Bruno Caboclo coming in, and Clint Capela, Gerald Green, and Nene going elsewhere. (Here’s the updated Houston roster.)
Just a reminder that the Rockets must add a 14th player to the roster within the next week. Expect a 10-day contract unless they find someone by then who can play playoff minutes for them.
— David Weiner (@BimaThug) February 14, 2020
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The trade of significance was the Covington deal, which was finalized on Wednesday, Feb. 5 and dropped Houston to 13 players, excluding Two-Way contracts. The Rockets are only allowed two weeks at that number, with the current period expiring on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
In theory, there is a way the Rockets could meet the minimum roster limit without adding a new player, since they could convert one of their Two-Way players — such as Michael Frazier — to a standard contract. However, there doesn’t seem to be any practical incentive for them to do so, since Frazier has plenty of NBA service days still left on his Two-Way deal.
FWIW, the Rockets have (I think) managed their two-way player NBA service days very well. Still plenty of days left for Frazier & Howard to be active during this stretch of the season. Don't be surprised if Frazier is converted to a 3-year deal in April. https://t.co/oKBEUz2HHR
— David Weiner (@BimaThug) February 14, 2020
The Rockets are nearly $6 million below the league’s luxury tax threshold after their deadline moves, so there wouldn’t seem to be an major financial consideration for the team, either.
If there’s no player currently available that the Rockets like enough to award a standard contract, they could instead give out a 10-day contract and effectively buy themselves more time.
Buyout candidates around the league can be eligible for the playoffs with new teams as long as they are waived by March 1, so it’s quite possible that more players could hit the market later this month. If the Rockets are preparing for that scenario and not thrilled with their current market options, then going the 10-day route would make sense for Morey and the front office to preserve maximum roster flexibility.
The who and how remains to be seen, but some sort of roster move for the Rockets is coming by next Wednesday.
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